Meet me at the Quarterback Weeks 10 & 11

By Lee Wakefield

I’ve had a few weeks away from the usual format of Meet me at the Quarterback, first ranking the rushers, taking a deep dive into the Denver Broncos, and late last week examining the effects of the trade deadline when it came to pass rushers.

This was always going to be a bit freeform throughout the season. I didn’t want just to churn out the same thing for you guys each week, and I will do a top-10 interior defensive linemen ranking soon and will also do at least one more team-specific piece before the end of the regular season, so keep an eye out for those in the future. 

However, this week we’re back to the regular format as there were some performances worthwhile of focus across the league in week 10.

Let’s get into a couple of guys who had huge performances in week 10, earmark the next team for that aforementioned team deep dive, and look ahead to another pivotal week in the NFL in week 11.

Huge Individual Performances this Week

Will McDonald, New York Jets

The headline here is Will McDonald having four sacks versus Cleveland on Sunday, as the Jets took their second win in as many weeks. McDonald has had five sacks across two weeks now, so perhaps he can claim to be somewhat of a catalyst for the recent upturn in form for Gang Green.

On the day, McDonald was all over the Cleveland defence. Not only did he get to the QB on four occasions, but the former Iowa State pass rusher had eight pressures overall, which equated to a pressure on 21.8% of his snaps.

Four sacks write McDonald into the franchise lore and record books, as this ties the record for most sacks in a game by a single player. McDonald has been capable of these big games throughout his career. This is his fifth multi-sack game for his career, but he is also capable of putting together a string of blanks, too. Before week 9, when he had a sack in Cincinnati, McDonald hadn’t taken down a QB since week 1 of this season, so it’s all about finding consistency as he moves into the second half of his third season, especially so now that the Jets traded away a couple of their defensive cornerstones earlier this week.

Danielle Hunter, Houston Texans

Had it not been for Will McDonald, Danielle Hunter’s 3.5 sacks at home, in their divisional win over Jacksonville, would have taken centre stage atop my article this week.

This was not only an outstanding performance from Hunter on Sunday, but it also allows me to draw attention to a few other aspects of this game, Hunter’s play since he arrived in H-Town, and other members of this fierce Houston defensive line who make things happen.

Firstly, let’s talk about this fourth quarter.

The Houston defence played an enormous role in this win. Going into the fourth quarter, the score was 29-10 to the Jags. The Texans scored 26 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes, six scored by Sheldon Rankins on a fumble recovery as time expired. But outside of that, as much as the defence didn’t score the other 20 points, they didn’t allow Trevor Lawrence to breathe when he dropped back to pass, and the pressure just mounted up to the point where the Jags’ offence simply couldn’t operate, much of that was down to the play of Hunter (as well as Will Anderson Jr.). After the Jags’ final points, to make it 29-10, Lawrence had six dropbacks; he was sacked three times, pressured on every one of those six dropbacks, scrambled for his life for 24 yards and attempted one pass.

That pass was batted at the line of scrimmage. Suffocating, just suffocating defence. The sort of defence that inspires people like me to write about defensive football.

Next, let me just shout out Danielle Hunter. Since he arrived in Houston a year and a half ago, the former Viking has 20 sacks. He’s been absolutely dominant under DeMeco Ryans.

Lastly, a huge factor in how dominant Hunter was on Sunday and how dominant he has been since arriving in Houston is the Will Anderson factor.

The gravity of Anderson means that the attention of the offensive line is pulled so far in one direction, it gives Hunter more one-on-one matchups than he would typically see, which allows him to feast.

Hunter ended the day with 3.5 sacks, eight pressures, six run stops and a host of bodies left in his wake.

A Man on Fire Recently... Brian Burns, New York Giants

Talk about a man who has been on an absolute tear in recent weeks, and you have to mention Brian Burns of the New York Giants.

The former Florida State pass rusher has six sacks in the past four weeks, and that run gives Burns 11 sacks in total for the season to this point, which draws him level with Myles Garrett at the top of the statistical leaders in that category.

Garrett was the top pass rusher in the league when I dropped by the list a few weeks ago. Brian Burns didn’t make my top 10, I had him as an honourable mention, just as I did Danielle Hunter. I will re-do and update those rankings again before the end of the regular season… And both of these guys have certainly given me something to think about when that time comes.

Burns had a quiet game against the Bears on Sunday, registering zero sacks, although he did have three pressures, either way, prior to that, he’s been wrecking games up front for the Giants. The only issue is… The Giants have only won one game throughout Burns’ streak. Something that has resulted in Brian Daboll losing his job.

As well as the play of Jaxon Dart, the presence of Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers, the Giants’ defensive line makes replacing Daboll an enticing job for whoever is appointed in New York early next year.

The Most Effective Blitzing Linebacker Through 10 weeks… Kaden Elliss, Atlanta Falcons

Throughout this series, I’ve mainly focused on edge pass rushers and interior defensive linemen, with the odd shout-out to defensive backs and the occasional linebacker.

I feel like, from a statistical point of view, it’s time to give a shout-out to Falcons linebacker Kaden Ellis.

Ellis is a former seventh-round selection who was drafted by the Saints in 2019. He had been in Atlanta for 2 and a half seasons now and has worked his way up to being a starting linebacker for the team. The Falcons are 3-6, which is a potentially unrelated fact of the matter regarding the investment in the second level of their defence, but I digress.

Anyway, back to Elliss.

Jeff Ulbrich is an aggressive defensive coordinator and has really leaned in to sending Elliss after the passer, which has been a big strength of his so far this season.

Ellis is an agent of chaos who leads linebackers across the league in pressures with 23. Ellis also has three sacks so far this year to add to his impressive pressure numbers.

Ellis’s closest rival in terms of pressures from an off-ball linebacker is Eric Wilson of the Vikings, who has 16. That gap of seven pressures between Ellis in first and Wilson in second is as large as that between Wilson and a group of six players who rank 20th in pressures for linebackers. Ellis is head-and-shoulders above the competition when it comes to this area of production this year.

Is he a linebacker who would start for most teams around the league? Probably not. But it’s a skill set that some of the more aggressive defensive coordinators around the NFL crave, so I feel like Elliss will always have a place and a job around the league. Which, for a former 244th overall selection, is pretty cool, in my book.

Did I Make a Mistake a Few Weeks Ago?

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote up the Broncos’ pass-rushing unit and asked myself the question of what makes them so good at getting to the quarterback on such a regular basis. I really enjoyed taking a deeper look, at what makes Denver so successful in that area of defence as it really drives their team’s success this season, which was evident again on Thursday Night football against the Raiders. When deciding who to select for that deep dive, it was a toss-up between them and the Rams, but how about those Seahawks?!

Did I make an error in glossing over the Seahawks and not even considering them part of the top two choices for that piece? And truth be told, I’d have probably lined up the Texans as a third choice after the Broncos and Rams, too.

Take this as my formal apology, Seattle fans.

Seattle’s front is absolutely balling right now, and let’s be honest, only an idiot would overlook them as one of the best units in the game.

It’s me, I am that idiot.

Uchenna Nwosu, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and DaMarcus Lawrence are all on fire this year! During that Broncos article, I talked about choreography and how the best units play with that, and a cohesiveness that makes the pass rush appear like it’s being orchestrated by one, singular hive mind. That’s Seattle right now.

Are they one of the best teams overall in the NFL right now? They’ve certainly placed themselves squarely in the conversation and next Sunday will provide an opportunity to really put a marker down on that front. More on that in a moment!

So yes, when I come around to doing my next deep dive, it’ll be on the Seahawks’ front. 

When I mention synergy, I can’t finish this little section without giving a shout-out to linebacker Tyrice Knight and Demarcus Lawrence for forcing and recovering two fumbles against the Cardinals on Sunday.

A breakout performance for Knight and one he’ll never forget. 

Looking Ahead to Week 11

Rams vs. Seahawks

What a game this is looking like on Sunday!

A huge game in deciding the destination of the NFC West title, a huge game for playoff implications and seedings and most importantly for this corner of the internet, a huge matchup between two of the league’s best defensive lines.

I listed the main players amongst the front seven for the Seahawks just now, and I’ve spoken plenty about the likes of Jared Verse and Byron Young for the Rams so far this season, and given a shout-out to Josiah Stewart.

Then there’s Braden Fisk, Kobie Turner and Poona Ford filling out the rest of the Los Angeles front.

Two absolutely stacked units, two QBs who don’t do too much to mitigate pressure with their feet, and two teams who are having superb seasons so far, with their records standing at 7-2.

Each of these fronts will almost certainly have their say on Sunday, and the most dominant unit will likely boost their team to their eighth win of the season.

What a game this is looking like on Sunday!

A huge game in deciding the destination of the NFC West title, a huge game for playoff implications and seedings and most importantly for this corner of the internet, a huge matchup between two of the league’s best defensive lines.

I listed the main players amongst the front seven for the Seahawks just now, and I’ve spoken plenty about the likes of Jared Verse and Byron Young for the Rams so far this season, and given a shout-out to Josiah Stewart.

Then there’s Braden Fisk, Kobie Turner and Poona Ford filling out the rest of the Los Angeles front.

Two absolutely stacked units, two QBs who don’t do too much to mitigate pressure with their feet, and two teams who are having superb seasons so far, with their records standing at 7-2.

Each of these fronts will almost certainly have their say on Sunday, and the most dominant unit will likely boost their team to their eighth win of the season.

Texans to Tee Off Against the Titans?

The Houston defence is keeping them in the hunt and winning them games like they did this past weekend against the Jags.

However, you can just ask the Carolina Panthers about complacency, as the Panthers failed to even cover the spread when 5.5-point favourites at home to the Saints this past weekend.

The Texans need to avoid falling into a trap game against a Tennessee team who are actively looking to lose, as things stand, Houston are, at the time of writing, 7.5-point favourites against the Titans, so even bigger favourites when compared to how Vegas viewed Carolina last weekend.

Big games ahead for Will Anderson Jr. And Danielle Hunter? It should be the case once again that a divisional rival is made to suffer at the hands of this dominant duo.

The Jags have a huge game against the Chargers playing at the same time as this one, so whilst the AFC South might be locked up right now. Houston still has an outside chance of a wildcard spot if they keep on winning and things fall their way, but they absolutely cannot afford to drop this one against Tennessee.

DeMeco just needs to tell Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter to pin their ears back and hunt Cam Ward from the first snap of the game, as surely the Titans won’t have an answer and it should lead to an easy win.

Do the Bills Bounce Back Against the Bucs?

Buffalo is a confusing team right now. Just a week after toppling the Chiefs, the Bills find themselves needing a win after falling to the Dolphins on Sunday.

The Patriots beat the Buccaneers last week and will probably have beaten the Jets by the time the Bills kick off, as the Jets head to Gillette Stadium for Thursday Night Football.

Bucs lost Ben Bredeson to a hamstring injury against New England, and the Pats had Baker under duress throughout their week 10 matchup.

The Bucs’ offensive line health has been shaky to say the least all season, since because Bredeson has gone down, they’ve also had to make do without Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch at points throughout the season.

The Bills need to do the same and get back in the W column because the AFC playoff picture is looking crowded, and the AFC East divisional picture is looking murkier than any of us expected this season!

Buffalo have spread the sacks around this season, with 14 different players having registered a take down of the opposing QB so far this season. However, their top sack artists, Greg Rousseau and Joey Bosa, have only four apiece, so nobody is exactly lighting the world on fire either. They’re leaving that to the fans and their tables in the tailgate, I guess?

Bosa and Rousseau have strong pass-rush win percentage numbers and they’re getting pressures on the QB, so the underlying metrics say that they’re solid. If not more than solid, but they’re not jumping off the page in the same ways as others mentioned throughout this piece.

A.J. Epenesa is once again proving to be a fine third edge rusher, and Deone Walker is emerging as a force in the middle. However, Buffalo once again find themselves in need of an X-factor when it comes to rushing the passer.

A nice move would have been to do what the Bills have done recently, sign a Joey Bosa-type pass rusher to give them a boost in production, a la signing Von Miller in recent times, but Joey Bosa is already on the roster and their best pass rusher… So…

Eh, just keep putting wins together and I’m sure the season won’t end in another heartbreaking loss to the Chiefs in January. 

Lee Wakefield

NFL Content Lead

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