NFL: Meet Me At The Quarterback - Weeks 1 & 2

By Lee Wakefield

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at The Touchdown; this is Meet Me at the Quarterback, your new, weekly look at what defenses are plotting against your favourite NFL quarterbacks.

I want to build this space into your go-to place for everything anti-quarterback. I want to (mostly) talk about the best athletes on the football field and the most impactful players on the defensive side of the ball. Pass rushers and defensive linemen.

So, what are we doing here?

To me, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching a defense choke the life out of an offense on Sundays. I love defense; I love the way the best defenses can dictate to the offense, forcing even the best quarterbacks into bone-headed plays or even complete meltdowns that change the course of the game. In my opinion, far too much attention is given to the offense in the NFL media space, to the highlight throws and catches each week, and as we all know, the rules in the modern NFL are tilted far in favour of offenses. This is where I do my small part to fight back against that.

I want to highlight the best-performing players each week when it comes to affecting the quarterback, whether that be pass rushers off the edge getting sacks, bigger-bodied interior linemen affecting the game with rushes, or by being absolute monsters against the run. Or, to linebackers or defensive backs who are affecting the passing game with pressures, because in an NFL where the simulated pressure, or exotic blitz, is becoming more and more prevalent (I’m looking directly at you, Brian Flores), we know there are ample opportunities for back-seven players to get involved in taking down the QB.

Anyway, enough setting the scene. First of all, let’s shout out some of the top performances from week 1 of the 2025 NFL season.

Harold Landry III, New England Patriots

Not that it means a whole lot at this stage of the season, but after week 1, Harold Landry is the current NFL sack leader with 2.5 sacks. Landry got off to a red-hot start against the Raiders as he disrupted Geno Smith all day, racking up eight total pressures, with an impressive 17.5% pass rush win rate. Landry also managed to blow up three Raiders’ run plays during Sunday’s game, only adding to what was an impressive debut after he signed a three-year deal with the Patriots at the beginning of free agency.

It’s worth noting that this deal reunited Landry with Mike Vrabel, his former Head Coach from their days in Tennessee.

That’s probably why he was able to force big-time sacks—showing signs of early cohesion with his new teammates.

Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers

So, after spending all summer long saying Parsons would never get traded, as he was too good, or saying things like, deals like this never get done for star players, the NFL community was stunned a couple of weeks ago when it turned out that the Dallas Cowboys do in fact hate themselves enough to trade a top-3 (at worst) edge rusher in the NFL.

And it did not take Parsons long to endear himself to the Green Bay faithful.

There was talk of a lack of training camp hindering Parsons in his initial outing for the Packers. However, I always felt it was worth casting our collective minds back to the offseason of 2018 when Khalil Mack was traded from the Raiders to the Bears on September 1st, having held out of the Raiders’ training camp. Mack turned up in Chicago, signed a $141m extension, and dominated straight out of the gate.

In week 1, Micah went up against a tackle named Penei Sewell (I think he’s pretty good) and turned in a dominant performance. Imagine what he’ll be like when he knows all of his teammates’ names.

Teair Tart, Los Angeles Chargers

When the Chargers were going through their internal free agency dealings, they really wanted to bring Poona Ford back to the team. Ultimately, they failed to do so, and Ford ended up moving team without having to move house – Signing with the Rams on a three-year deal worth $27.6m with $15.6m guaranteed.

Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said missing out on bringing Ford back would “leave a bruise”. Ford earned that contract and was a bargain for the Bolts in 2024; he will leave a sizable hole in the Chargers’ defensive line. One that they hope Teair Tart will be able to fill.

On Friday night in São Paulo, with 17.3 million pairs of eyeballs on the Chargers “hosting” the Chiefs, Tart began to step into the shoes of his former colleague.

Tart had three batted passes in his game, all three coming in key moments, none more so than on the Chiefs’ two-point conversion attempt with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. A two-point attempt that, if converted, would have tied the game at 20, and given Chargers fans around the globe that sinking feeling that number 15 was about to pull off another comeback and break their hearts as he so often has.

Let’s just not mention his altercation with Travis Kelce…

Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

Fresh off signing a revised contract with the Bengals, Trey Hendrickson said that he was excited to get to work and was focused on getting the divisional win for the Bengals in their week 1 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

This is a game where the much-criticised Cincy defense should have had an easy-ish day against an offense led by Joe Flacco, and who most NFL observers expected to be well, not very good in 2025. And that’s being kind.

The Browns managed to keep it pretty close, thanks in no small part to a fantastic performance by their star pass rusher, Myles Garrett. Garrett could quite easily have been included in this write-up, but considering that I believe Garrett to be the best pass rusher in the league, I’d imagine he’ll feature plenty of times over the next few months…

Anyway, back to Hendrickson, who just completely terrorised the Browns’ offensive linemen throughout Sunday’s game.

Hendrickson had a quite staggering 41.7% pass rush win rate, which actually jumped to 50% on true pass sets. A truly dominant performance from a player who Cincy is absolutely relying on for their defense to not be a complete shambles once again in 2025. Not only did Hendrickson embarrass his opponent at a high rate, but he also made those wins count, registering a joint-best, league-wide eight pressures in week 1.

A hot start for a player who is a free agent next March despite the new deal. Here’s his first sack from Sunday.

Honourable Mentions:

Javon Hargrave, Minnesota Vikings: Hargrave showed out on Monday Night football with a pair of sacks on Caleb Williams as the Vikings squeaked past the Bears.

Drue Tranquill, Kansas City Chiefs: Tranquill managed to lay a couple of blows on former teammate Justin Herbert in the Chargers’ backfield on Friday night, as he was the primary beneficiary of Steve Spagnuolo cooking up some pressures with delayed blitzes.

Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns: Back-to-back plays with sacks on Joe Burrow as the Browns kept it close against the Bengals. Garrett and the Cleveland defense made it very tough for Cincinnati to move the ball effectively on Sunday. Perhaps he’ll be casting some envious glances towards Micah Parsons after his own trade request didn’t yield a move to a better team situation.

Looking Ahead to Week 2, Players to Watch…

Joshua Hines-Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs Bengals)

Hines-Allen had seven total pressures in the Jags’ week 1 win over the Panthers as he continues to be the guy on the Jacksonville front. Hines-Allen had a 50% win rate in true pass sets in week 1, and is coming into his week 2 match-up against an equally porous offensive line. Joe Burrow is better equipped to avoid the pass rush compared to Bryce Young, but Myles Garrett showed that it is possible to heat Burrow up and poke holes in the Bengals’ protection plan.

Haason Reddick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs Texans)

Reddick was red hot for the Bucs in week 1 with a joint-best eight pressures alongside the aforementioned Trey Hendrickson. The former Eagle and Cardinal will fancy his chances of causing more havoc in week 2 against an offensive line that may be the least talented in football when he faces off against the Texans.

Look for Bucs Defensive Co-ordinator, Todd Bowles, to move Reddick around the formation to find an advantage. Reddick had four snaps at linebacker as Bowles rolled out some plays from deeper in his bag in week 1.

Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders (vs Chargers)

Maxx Crosby is a name that is feared league-wide, and with good reason. The former Eastern Michigan Eagle has a claim to be the best all-around pass rusher in the league when you take into consideration both getting to the QB and run defending. He could face an uphill battle against the now left tackle, Joe Alt, who had a stellar performance in week 1 for the Chargers. However, Crosby may fancy his chances against Trey Pipkins when he lines up on the left side of the defensive line. Crosby will also want to make life difficult for Chargers running backs, including rookie Omarion Hampton. 

Much of the talk surrounding L.A. is that they want to pound the rock. Will they attempt to do that against Crosby and the Raiders in week 2? Or will they come out throwing like they did in Brazil? Either way, Crosby will have to be accounted for.

Lee Wakefield

NFL Editor and Contributor

Lee Wakefield IS A defensive line enthusiast, Chargers Sufferer, and LONG-TIME writer and podcaster with a number of publications. @Wakefield90 on twitter/X.