Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow led the team to a 19-16 victory over the Titans, the number one seed in the League, but he also became the third quarterback in history to have nine tackles in a single game in the playoffs.
While the PFF has determined that quarterbacks have amazing control over the pressure they are under, that doesn't mean the Tigers are immune to blame on the offensive front. Their team's PFF pass protection score of 58.4 this season is eighth-to-last in the league and undoubtedly the worst offensive front in the playoffs so far.
It's hard to keep the team on the offensive front so far, so let's dig deeper into how they'll block the Chiefs' crosses at the American League Championship.
To focus on the goal, we will focus on two main issues:
1. Where does most of the pressure from the tigers come from?
2. How does the opponent create pressure?
The answer to the first question is simple: attack the right side of the front line.
Since becoming the starting right winger in the ninth week, Hakim Adenighi on the second-year offensive front has a PFF pass protection score of just 48.9, ranking 69th out of 84 defenders. He also ranked 69th with a pressure rate of 7.1%.
Right-winger Isaiah Prince didn't fare much better. Since becoming a full-time starter in Week 12, Prince has received a pass protection score of 51.4 and a release pressure rate of 8.9 percent, all in the bottom 15 of the interception position.
The other offensive fronts in Queenstown were relatively usable. Left-winger Jonah Williams and center Trey Hopkins have combined to score just one below-average pass protection score over the past month. Left defender Quinton Spann released only 3.8 percent pressure this season, ranking 23rd out of 89 interceptors.
This rough assessment of the offensive line does not take into account short passes and short passes on the screen, which are a major part of the Tigers' offense. It also doesn't show that opposing defensive coordinators could focus pressure on the right side of the Tigers' front.
Still, the data clearly shows that the right side of the Tigers' front line is the main weakness. It could have been their defeat in the American League Championship game against the Kan Chiefs, as Star Rush passer Chris Jones spent more than 60 percent of the time lined up on the right side of the opposing line.
We know where the tiger's weaknesses lie, but that doesn't answer the question of how the other side can do the pressure. To this end, we divide the punch into five categories: raid, front and rear transposition, simulated pressure, commutation pass and standard punch pass.
They are defined as follows:
Raid: Five or more defenders throw in a rushing pass.
Forward and backward shifts: When three or four defenders make a surprise attack, one standing outside guard or defensive front suddenly retreats to defend the pass, and the other defender makes a surprise attack.
Simulated pressure: When five or more defenders gather near the starting line and pretend to make a surprise attack, only three or four actually carry out the rushing pass.
Standard Pass: Three or four defensive front and/or outside guards directly forward to the quarterback.
Reversing Passes: Three or four defensive front and/or outside linebackers charge the quarterbacks, but one or more of them change the direction of the pass, such as an outside crosser going inward and an inside crosser forming a cross.
We separate these different types of pressure because from a defensive point of view, they have different objectives and therefore different requirements for the offensive front.
The purpose of the raid is to summon one more rusher, so that five rushers can PK five fronts, and a breakthrough at one point can threaten the quarterback. Standard punch is designed to maximize the range of anti-pass transmission. The reversing pass is the use of unconventional directions to make the front line players and quarterbacks unpredictable.
Front-to-back transpositions and simulated pressure are unique in that their main goal is to confuse the attacking group with virtual and real tricks, causing no one to block or defend the desired one-on-one, while maintaining enough people in the backfield to defend against passes.
Forward and backward transposition is to make one of the original rushers retreat and kill another rusher from an unexpected angle. Simulated pressure is to make the offense think that there will be multiple people raiding to call more weapons back to protect the quarterback, but the result is actually to go back to the defense pass, the offensive weapon is forced to play less and more, and the defense team gets the desired rush pass.
Therefore, by separating different types of pressure, we can more effectively analyze how well the tiger is protected in the face of different types of impulses.
Surprisingly, when the defensive team did not take a confusing approach before kick-off, the Tigers pass protection was not bad. In intercepting raids and standard punches, they released pressure rates that ranked close to the midstream of the league. While some frontline players have limited ability, the Tigers' attack on the front line doesn't seem to be going wrong in one-on-one pass protection.
A more likely explanation is that when the opponent honestly rushes the pass, the offensive front can carry out the task more easily, and Burrow can predict where the pressure will come from before kick-off. This will allow him to better identify the direction of pressure and avoid pressure with a quick shot.
But when the opponent rushed to hide the intention of the kick-off, we got the exact opposite, because the defensive team implemented simulated pressure and forward and backward transposition. Part of the reason for the Tigers' poor protection can reasonably be attributed to a lack of experience on the right side of the offensive front, leading to miscommunication, misalignment, and thus pressure.
In addition, a less clear-cut passing strategy could make It less clear to Burrow and his receivers where the pressure is coming from, leading to errors in reading before kick-off.
Thus, the problem of the tiger attacking the front line is clear at a glance:
1. Their weaknesses are mainly on the right side.
2. They perform decently when the task is clear before kick-off, however, they struggle very much when the pass changes after kick-off.
How does this affect our thinking about the Battle of the Tiger Chiefs? PFF rushes to score the league's fourth-highest-scoring inner defender Chris Jones, who will focus on picking up Adenigi and Prince.
Fortunately for the Tigers, however, the Chiefs only used 5 gears this season, and simulated pressure is also the average use of the league. This means that the Tigers should focus on how to get Chris Jones in order, not on other issues.