Over the course of the next several weeks I will be recapping the sacks registered during the 2015 season by the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Each post will be dedicated to one individual player and along the way we’ll document the down and distance, time and number of players sent on each and every sack. Once we recap all of them, I will summarize them in one final post.
Today, we’ll recap the sacks registered by outside linebacker Jarvis Jones.
The NFL officially credited Jones with 2 total sacks and that number includes one full one and two halves. The league also credited Jones with 5 total quarterback hits during the season while the Steelers have Jones down as recording 3 quarterback pressures.
Jones’ first regular season came in Week 5 against the San Diego Chargers.
WEEK 5 – 2-8-SD 22 (3:40 2Q) (Shotgun) P.Rivers sacked at SD 15 for -7 yards (J.Jones). 5.0 seconds, 5-man rush, corner blitz
On this play, the Steelers rushed five with cornerback William Gay blitzing off the edge. All five rushers did a great job of collapsing the pocket on Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Jones was responsible for twisting inside and behind defensive end Cameron Heyward. Jones was the one to eventually put Rivers down on the ground.
WEEK 8 – 3-15-CIN 30 (9:56 2Q) (Shotgun) A.Dalton sacked at CIN 26 for -4 yards (sack split by J.Jones and R.Shazier). 4.2 seconds, 5-man rush, linebacker blitz
On this sack of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, the Steelers send 5 again via a cross blitz of the inside linebackers. Jones does a great job of getting his inside arm up underneath left tackle Andrew Whitworth and while he misses getting Dalton on his first pass, he and inside linebacker Ryan Shazier continue fighting on the play to split the sack. Remember, it was 3rd and long on the play.
WEEK 10 – 1-10-CLV 30 (14:20 3Q) (Shotgun) J.Manziel sacked at CLV 23 for -7 yards (sack split by A.Moats and Jar.Jones). 4.7 seconds, 4-man rush
While Jones split this sack against the Cleveland Browns with fellow outside linebacker Arthur Moats, it might very well have been his best single pass rush of the entire season. The Steelers only rushed four on the play and that makes it even more impressive. Jones bull-rushed left tackle Joe Thomas on the play and pancakes him right behind quarterback Johnny Manziel, who then proceeds to trip over his downed offensive lineman. It’s an easy split sack at that point.
Summary: The fact that Jones registered so few sacks, hits and pressures during the regular season is very discouraging. While we did see some growth out of him as a pass rusher during the season, he’ll never be regarded as a premier player. Two of his half sacks came against two of the best left tackles in the league, however, so he needs to be commended for that.
