“Pressure pushing down on me, pressing down on you ...”
Giants are tormenting young NFL quarterbacks with devious pressure packages
An NFL offensive lineman explains why dealing with defensive pressure is so much harder in the NFL than in college, and why the Giants are among the best pressure teams in the league.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
What’s the biggest difference between the college game and the NFL? The cliché answers are all true: The speed of the game, the schemes, your opponents are the best players you faced in college, etc. However, perhaps the biggest adjustment for anyone on offense is dealing with complex and unique pressure packages each week.
Everything in the college game is spread out — the hashes, the formations, and the defenses. You can see pressures coming from a mile away because defenses have to cheat their alignments to cover the field. Even if a quarterback has a minimal understanding of a defense, he does have eyes, and he can see when linebackers are lined up far to one side, or when safeties are down near the line of scrimmage. As well as being able to see pressure, offenses often operate so quickly that any attempts to bring pressure are futile. Defenses are either too tired, or too worried about being a man short and giving up a long play.
That brings us to the NFL game. Compared to college, playing in the NFL feels like playing football in a phone booth. (Which, by the way, is one of my favorite offensive line draft-time clichés. He plays well in a phone booth. LOL. What does that even mean). Everything is condensed. Not only is the game condensed, it’s now faster and more complicated.
This is where young players struggle the most, and it’s most noticeable at the quarterback position. Young quarterbacks coming from college have never faced a third-and-long with seven guys walking around on the defense, the play clock ticking down, and having to pick out five of them for the line to block. Then they have to alert the receivers to who are the hot/sight adjustment players, scan the field again, remember the routes, and then — SET HUT!
Sunday Night Football featured the red-hot Cowboys, entering the game at 11-1 with rookie Dak Prescott at quarterback, against the 8-4 Giants, a team struggling on offense but excelling on defense in large part because of an extensive pressure package put in by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The Giants will often bring a number of players on second-and-medium to force third downs, and then again on third downs when the offense needs 4 yards or more. They only bring pressure on 24.7 percent of downs, which is 19th in the NFL, but they are successful when doing so. They’ve only allowed 602 yards total when bringing pressure, which is second best in the NFL.
Why are the Giants so successful with their pressure package?
First, they have two excellent corners, and a third who is above average. You must have at least one elite corner to be an above-average pressure team, because bringing pressure often leaves the players covering receivers on islands. Along the same lines, teams will often throw “hot” when they see pressure. Those routes tend to be shorter because the pressure is in the quarterback’s face, so having corners who can play without much cushion is very helpful.
Second is great tackling. When you’re on an island, there is no one to help if you miss a tackle. Only allowing 602 yards when bringing pressure tells me that the Giants wrap up ball carriers well.
Third — and this is the most important thing — anyone at any time can bring pressure for the Giants. They have interchangeable players — defensive ends who can play inside, linebackers who can rush, and a strong safety who is a beast down in the box. This is what makes it so tough for less-experienced players. There are teams you play where you know, “Well, only this linebacker is their pressure guy.” Not with the Giants. Pressure can come from anywhere.
The Giants defense has feasted on inexperienced quarterbacks and offensive lines all season with their pressure packages because they create confusion. Instead of picking out clips writing about them, I tried something new and made a video of the pressures that explains exactly what’s going on.
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