The Jaguars Pass Rush: Even Getting to Average Would Help

Any fear in his eyes that he's going to be hit? Not a chance.

Anybody and everybody who watched the Jaguars play the Patriots on Sunday witnessed a first hand look at just how bad the team's pass rush is. Tom Brady had more than enough time to comfortably sit in the pocket and observe his receivers get open. 

The average NFL quarterback gets somewhere between 2.3-2.5 seconds to throw before the pass rush gets there. I decided to take Terry's lead and compare this to the Jaguars pass rush by taking freeze frames of 4 of the Patriots biggest game changing plays. The pictures are broken up into half second intervals. The frame at 2.5 seconds into the play is the focal point because at that point in time Tom Brady should be feeling pressure. If not a sack or hit, at least enough pressure to force him to get rid of the ball.

Play 1

Harvey took over for Quentin Groves on this play against the left tackle and second year player Chris Harrington played opposite him. Daryl Smith comes on a blitz making it a 5 man rush against Brady.

Because it's a shotgun set, Brady has the ball in his hands immediately and is already looking for somewhere to throw. It usually takes a QB 1.0-1.5 seconds to complete a 3 step drop and set their feet.

At 1 second, Derrick Harvey looks to be pulling a stunt with Knighton, but Henderson and Harrington are easily being handled by the RG and RT. Daryl Smith gets a bit of a running start at the Patriots TE with Maroney possibly preparing to chip him.

Harvey's stunt clearly did not work as two Patriot linemen are waiting for him in the middle. Meanwhile Harrington and Henderson look like nonfactors.

Now it appears that Justin Durant has decided to come in on a delayed blitz, but the Patriots have an extra lineman waiting for him. He probably would've helped more in coverage. Hind-sight's 20-20.

Here's the 2.5 second mark and Brady has about as perfect a pocket as a QB could ever ask for. Maroney is still looking for someone to block. No Brady's not throwing the ball in this frame, this is actually a pump fake that allows Randy Moss to get open in the back of the endzone. The ball doesn't actually leave Brady's hand until after the 3 second mark. He was unpressured at the end of the play too.

Here are the 2.5 second marks on 3 other Patriot highlights:

Play 2

The blitzing personnel here is Harvey, Henderson, Knighton, Groves and Smith. Smith and Groves come the closest to getting to Brady, but it's not even close. Brady takes one step to the left and throws a TD pass to his tight end. The ball is not released until the 3.5 second mark.

Play 3

The Jaguars only send 4 on this play. Groves, Henderson, Knighton and Harvey. Brady never has to move on this one and at 3 seconds he tosses it to a wide open Moss in the back of the endzone.

Play 4

The Jaguars only sent three on this play, Groves, Knighton and Harvey, yet it was the closest the Jaguars came to any resemblance of a pass rush. Harvey and Knighton both received a pair of blockers and Groves worked one on one with the LT. He used his speed rush to get a break around the outside, but Brady took a step forward and Quentin's swipe at the arm missed. At 3.5 seconds Brady released a pass that resulted in a 28 yard gain.

A pass rush even in the middle of the pack of the league would have a tremendous impact on this defense. The fact that this team has a 27th ranked pass defense while having a pass rush that allows quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Matt Schaub an extra second to survey the field is amazing. Give this secondary a decent pass rush and then we can truly judge them.

-Adam Stites