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Joe Burrow is arguably the best QB in the entire NFL against the blitz.
To some degree, that explains why Cincinnati was able to light up the Baltimore Ravens, who blitzed Burrow 38% of the time. It also explains why they struggled on offense against the New York Jets, who only blitzed him on 24% of his dropbacks.
Now the Bengals face a team with the best combination of pass rushers up front in the league: Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby. The two have a combined 92 QB pressures this season and are #1 and #2 respectively in the NFL in that department.
The Raiders pressured Patrick Mahomes on just 11 of his 50 dropbacks (22.0%), snapping the Raiders eight-game streak with a 30%+ pressure rate.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 15, 2021
Nevertheless, Maxx Crosby (6 QBP) and Yannick Ngakoue (4) now rank 1st and 2nd in QB pressures this season.#KCvsLV | #RaidersNation pic.twitter.com/HnjeO8XflP
That sort of amazing push up front is why the Las Vegas Raiders can rank dead last in the league in blitz rate (13.8%) but still be tied for ninth in pressures (98), be eleventh in pressure percentage (26.0%), and have 21 sacks.
In other words, the Raiders can get to the QB without blitzing, which takes away some of Burrow’s best opportunities for getting big plays. More concerning is the fact that the Bengals do not have the personnel to stop one dominant pass rusher (Myles Garrett in Week 9), let alone two.
For more about this (bad) matchup, check out our preview with Dennis Ackerman, formerly of Fox Sports and currently the host of the Bleav in Raiders podcast along with former Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt:
You can also listen on iTunes or using the player below:
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