Indeed. The Texans’ duo of edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter (148) and the #Saints duo of Chase Young and Carl Granderson (131) were the top pressure tandems in the NFL per Next Gen Stats.
The difference? Sacks.
Anderson & Hunter: 23
Young & Granderson: 10 https://t.co/eG0kxPpZek— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) January 12, 2025
The New Orleans Saints defensive ends generated a ton of pressure last season on paper, but the failure to finish and turn those into sacks kept them from being considered successful.
With the Houston Texans’ pass rush shining in their NFL Wild Card Round win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Locked on Saints host Ross Jackson compared the Houston duo to the one in New Orleans.
Jackson pointed out the two pairs finished first and second in the NFL in generating pressure, but there was a large gap in sacks.
Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter generated 148 pressures this season and turned those into an impressive 23 sacks for Houston. Saints defensive ends Carl Granderson and Chase young combined for 131 pressures, but turned those into just 10 sacks.
These ‘almost sacks’ as some call them have been a bane to New Orleans’ existence for the past few years. A new defensive system getting implemented could mean many different outcomes. For the Saints’ sake, it will ideally come with more sacks getting logged.
