Embed from Getty Images
Improvement, something that all NFL teams should work towards. Yet, in which statistical areas should particular teams fix?
Whether it's snacking less or traveling more, people want to improve. Life in the NFL is not much different. As the start of the season draws closer, teams pour over film and analytics. With these endeavors, they hope to end their season better than the last. Only Kansas City ended their season better than anyone. Now, which areas do certain teams need to fix? All stats, courtesy of NFLsavant.com.
Raiders (104 penalties)
Granted, the Raiders own that perennial NFL reputation for committing the most penalties. Aggressive, chippy, hard-nosed play earned the dubious distinction. However, holding and passive penalties lead to that in 2022. Josh McDaniels feels like he finally installed in offense. Simultaneously, Patrick Graham feels the same about his defense. In the NFL, you need to play a cleaner brand of football in 2023. What worked in 1973, does not work now. As a team, General Manager Dave Ziegler wanted to get away from the knuckleheaded tendencies. Yet, averaging six penalties over a seventeen-game season will lose games. Especially division rivals who already know which remaining players that you can test.
Around Full Press Coverage
OPINION: Morten Andersen: The Toughest Place To Kick? For Me, It Was This Place
NFL: NFL 2022: Five Key Statistics for Week 2
NFL: Kansas City Chiefs Stock Report: Week 2 2022
FULL PRESS BETS: NFL MVP Odds: Patrick Mahomes Leapfrogs Josh Allen For Top Spot
FANTASY FOOTBALL: Fantasy Football Value Picks In Every Round
PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 54: Chargers At Chiefs Preview
Bears (18 sacks)
While the braintrust made the right decision to actually build a competent office, the pass rush still lacks punch. Yesterday, the team jettisoned Trevis Gipson. Now, the entirety of the rush rest solely with Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue, a well-traveled veteran with excellent burst cannot do it alone. The Bears play in the pass-happy NFC North. With three quarterbacks potentially throwing for 3,000 yards, relying on one rusher feels rather shortsighted. Defensive coordinator shifted the scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3. Therefore, that made players like Gipson expendable. The offense struggled last year. In all honesty, the pass rush must get home for the Bears. NFL playoff teams do not tally only eighteen sacks. Under those circumstances, the Bears will need to send a blitzer or two to generate any pressure. As a result, that leaves an underwhelming secondary and linebackers to cover even more ground.
Now, this is not a stat regarding an NFL team. However, how does a quarterback play an entire regular season with only eleven downfield middle shots? Granted, having Chase and Higgins on the outside makes the passing game lethal. Although this may be true, a player like Tyler Boyd could certainly win against subpackage defenders. Why not exploit the largest area of the field? For as talented as the Bengals are on offense, that one added dimension could prove beneficial down the stretch.
No comments:
Post a Comment