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Why Josh Sweat isn’t stressing about low sack number originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Josh Sweat hasn’t sacked a quarterback in six games. He has just one sack in his last eight games. And he has just 6 1/2 sacks all season.
But he’s not worried about it.
“It’s like the holy grail number,” Sweat said about sacks. “If you want to question it, you can just turn on the film and see how close I am.
“We’ve been battling with pass defense all year, whether that’s D-line, whether that’s secondary, whatever. The ball’s been out fast as s—. I’m winning. I got more pressures this year than I had probably combined in my career, more hits and I’m winning (rushes).
“It’s just not showing up how I want it to. I’m affecting the quarterback. That’s all I can say. I am affecting the quarterback more than I ever have in my career, at a higher level than I ever have in my career, won more rushes. The sacks just haven’t been hitting but I’ve been rushing better than I have in my career. I’m even way better than I was last year with my rushes in terms of how much I’m around the quarterback, how much I’m hitting and how much I’m pressuring. That’s what keeps me going. Whether it (the sacks) comes or not, I’m going to keep affecting the quarterback.”
Sweat in 2022 had a career season. He finished the year with 11 sacks (among other things) and was one of four Eagles to hit double digits for a defense that had an astounding 70 sacks on the season.
In 2023, the Eagles have just 40 sacks through 15 games and Sweat is second on the team with 6 1/2.
But to his point, Sweat has been getting pressure. There are other metrics to judge pass rushers — the Eagles have “too many,” Sweat joked — and those other numbers show that Sweat is right. He has been affecting the quarterback this season.
Here are some of those metrics from ProFootballFocus:
2023: 63 total pressures, 15 hits, 41 hurries
2022: 51 total pressures, 9 hits, 27…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-josh-sweat-isnt-stressing-120000834.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-12-29 12:00:00
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