Statistics can be misleading when taken out of context.
I’m not sure the way Sharp measured the success or failure of blitzing but context is important.
AG didn’t blitz a lot on early downs and he had a great run defense so the numbers could be skewed to show greater success when not blitzing.
The secondary would also get nickel and dimed to death and give up 1st downs because of lack of pressure so AG blitzed to create pressure. Those blitzes often resulted in big plays on both sides.
AG would get sacks and turnovers out of the blitz but when a play was completed against the blitz it would be for a huge gain (we all remember the Barnes whiff against the Cowboys that went for a long TD) skewing the numbers.
AG knew he couldn’t stop teams by sitting back. It resulted in a slow painful death.
So he decided he was going to be aggressive and force the action. He just didn’t have CB’s that could hold up M2M.
2024 should be the season AG can implement his vision.
He has a team that can shut down the run and at least 4 hand selected M2M CB’s.
The pass rush should be better but he emphasizes shutting the run down first, so he has what he needs in a D-Line.
Injuries shouldn’t be an excuse (outside of a catastrophic wave) because he has good depth throughout.
Some of the players are young but he has experienced depth, and he has cycled through so many coaches that he now has elite coaches at every level to put the best defense on the field.
2024 is the year of proof for haters and supporters of AG.
