Through six games, the New England Patriots offensive line has allowed quarterback Tom Brady to be sacked 16 times. Despite the fact that New England has already had its bye and thus has played one fewer game than about half the teams in the league, that total of 16 sacks ranks ties for 12th-highest in the NFL.
It's also a bit misleading, though, because the Patriots have dropped back to pass a whopping 271 times in those six games, an average of 41.7 per week. Having allowed a total of 64 pressures (sacks plus hits plus hurries) in six weeks, the Patriots' O-Line has yielded a pressure rate of 23.6 percent, the ninth-lowest in the NFL.
And Tom Brady, for one, is very satisfied with that.
“Our offensive line has been phenomenal this year,” Brady said Tuesday, per WEEI. “The challenges they’ve been up against, they’ve faced a lot of really great defensive lines, a lot of different scheme challenges. They’ve had perimeter rushers. They’ve had interior rushers. We see a lot of games and twists.”
New England has squared off with the Steelers, Bills, Jaguars, Cowboys, Colts, and Jets, thus far. Those teams rank 8th, 27th, 28th, 31st, 17th, and 2nd in defensive pressure rate through seven weeks of the season. So it's been a mixed bag in terms of pass rush quality. But the group up front has mostly kept Brady clean in the pocket, even if he's been under a bit more heat over the last few games as injuries have mounted up.
“I mean, everyone is obviously trying to get to the quarterback all the time, but we’ve been faced with a lot of challenges and I think those guys have really stepped up to it, "Brady said. "So it’s a great group. They’re really well-coached. Coach Gug [Dave DeGuglielmo] has done a great job. Josh [McDaniels] has done a great job. Dave Andrews and Tre’ [Jackson] and Shaq [Mason], Josh Kline … Wendy [Ryan Wendell] has provided incredible insight being that he’s been so experienced in the system. Nate [Solder] was playing great until he got injured.
“Marcus [Cannon], everyone has a lot of confidence in Marcus. Sebastian [Vollmer] has done a great job going from right now to left and Cam Fleming coming off the practice squad, whatever it takes for those guys. They just, however they can put that unit together and play cohesively, play as a group, but it’s a great group we have. I think those guys taken a lot of pride in it, and they’ve just done an incredible job this year.”
This Thursday, the Patriots take on the Dolphins, whose pass rush has finally begun to resemble the group many thought would take the field over the last two games. Those two games were against the Titans and Texans, though, two teams not exactly equipped with the best pass blocking in the league. Whoever wins that battle up front on Thursday could go a long way toward impacting the game's outcome.
