Four Downs: Bud Dupree wasn’t Steelers’ best pass rusher, but he was very good

1. Missing your Bud

The loss of outside linebacker Bud Dupree to a season-ending knee injury won’t mean the Pittsburgh Steelers cannot win the Super Bowl. But even though Dupree wasn’t the best player on his team at his position, that doesn’t mean he won’t be missed by a defense for which he was a perfect fit on the edge.

Dupree was seventh in the NFL in sacks (seven), 17th in QB hits (17) and tied for 16th in tackles for loss (eight). Only 16 players had more forced fumbles this season than Dupree’s two.

According to Pro Football Focus, Dupree led the NFL in “pressures” from the blind side with 41. No one else has more than 36. Only the New Orleans Saints’ Trey Hendrickson has more sacks among edge rushers coming from the right side of the defense. Only two players have more QB hits coming from that side (nine), and no one has hurried quarterbacks from the passer’s left side more than Dupree (24).

ESPN calculates Dupree has one of the three best “get-off” times (time from snap to hurry) in the NFL this season at less than 0.80 seconds.

Although Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt — who comes from the opposite side of Dupree — is the biggest reason why, and interior rushers Stephon Tuitt and Cameron Heyward help, too, Dupree was a primary figure in a pass rush that leads the NFL in sack rate (9.8%) and pass-rush win rate (57%) this season. Both figures are provided by ESPN (the latter measures how often a pass-rusher is able to beat his block within 2.5 seconds of snap).

Fumble! And the @steelers recover! @bud_dupree

?: #PITvsBAL on CBS
?: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/VpbDsNEjOj pic.twitter.com/bhPYY3yU6f

— NFL (@NFL) November 1, 2020

2. Turnover/unders

The Steelers lead the NFL in turnover differential at plus-12. They have a league-best 23 takeaways (four more than any other team through 11 games), and only four teams have fewer giveaways than the Steelers’ 11.

Footballoutsiders.com breaks down turnovers further — by rate per drive. The Steelers are third the NFL in the rate of giveaways (7.5% of drives) and are first in takeaways at 17.5% (kneeldowns at the end of halves are discarded for the purposes of this metric). Their net turnovers per drive (combining both) of minus-.100 is by far the best in the NFL.

Too easy for @joehaden23 ?

? NBC ?https://t.co/tI5aUTu7te #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/WFsFsMKVSX

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 2, 2020

3. Time and position

The turnovers generated by the defense help contribute to Steelers’ superlatives in two other areas measured by Football Outsiders. The Steelers lead the league in opponent time of possession per drive (2 minutes, 25 seconds), and they rank second in average starting field position on offense (31.78 yard line).

The Steelers, on average, hold the ball 30 extra seconds per drive than opponents, a rate that ranks second in the NFL to the Green Bay Packers. Their average field position is 4.28 yards better than what they have held their opponents to. Both help explain the route to 11-0.

“My guys up front have done a great job this year so far, especially the last few games, of protecting me,” Roethlisberger said.https://t.co/HlNIB3Nln6

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 5, 2020

4. Keeping it outside

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger was most effective throwing to the outside during last week’s win against the Baltimore Ravens. When throwing to out-breaking receivers, Roethlisberger was 16 for 18 for 106 yards and his lone touchdown in the 19-14 win Wednesday.

Fifteen of those 18 balls were thrown less than 2.5 seconds after the snap. It helped Roethlisberger further lower his NFL-best 2.28 average time to release (the average was 2.21 on Wednesday).

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