Why Sacks Are So Vital
August 12th, 2026
Please get sacks.
Joe’s passion, obsession and desire for sacks from an edge rush drive some fans nuts. However, don’t ever expect Joe to shut up about sacks.
Former Cowboys personnel guy Gil Brandt, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, always said the three most important positions on a team are quarterback, edge rusher/defensive end and left tackle, in that order.
Why edge rusher/defensive end? Because those guys affect the quarterback. And it ain’t about yelling “BOO!” from one yard away for an almost-sack (pressure).
Famed handicapper-turned-statgeek Warren Sharp ran the numbers on what happens when a defense gets a sack. The numbers are striking.
Simply put, offenses rarely score touchdowns on drives in which they suffer a sack.
So less than 10 percent of drives result in a touchdown when the offense eats a sack. But yeah, pressures are so, so, so much better. #SarcasmAlert
This. This is why Joe is obsessed with sacks. Throw all the stats out there you want, but at the end of the day, the team that wins has more points than the loser.
And getting sacks greatly prevents your opponent from scoring points. And the guys who do that are generally known as “pass rushing specialists,” or edge rushers/defensive ends. That’s why they make all that money.
Because they are invaluable.
August 12th, 2026 at 5:01 am
It puts fear into the QBs head. No one fears us. Maybe Bain can change that.
August 12th, 2026 at 5:35 am
For the last 4/5 years we’ve specialized in confidence building. The OTHER TEAMS confidence that is!
We are TOPS in the league in that category and Opposing teams QB sits so calm and focused in the pocket that bowles style and technique ALSO leaves ample room and time to choose to throw to whoever they like, So Accurately…. like Nobodies business!
But we’re Determined to show opponents a new way…. A new style. The barely trying style and the doomed to fail, freaky fandango method that our very own guru has cook up. It does a stand out job of keeping them confused! “Our guys I mean!!!
I Do wonder why that’s So unpopular in a contact sport ? Let’s ask our local guru how it feels to be Numero ONE in area at least “Being the Very Best at being the Very Worst”!
Go Bucs!
August 12th, 2026 at 5:40 am
Let’s finally get over 50 sacks this year.
August 12th, 2026 at 5:41 am
Cut Kancey and pay Vita. Kancey was smoked yesterday by second and throws teamers. Dudes that will be working the local clubs front door in September
August 12th, 2026 at 6:03 am
Is this the same Joe that wrote an article about INTs being a “crutch”?
August 12th, 2026 at 6:15 am
What’s the average points scored on a drive by an offense that commits a turnover? I’m guessing that it is lower than 1.1 and that the TD% is probably less than 8%.
Let me know when you find out those numbers. And when you do you will understand why some people rate turnovers higher than sacks. I want both and I’m hypothesizing that the correlation is strong and positive.
August 12th, 2026 at 6:17 am
Holding calls are big as well.
TD’s may drop from 25 to 8% with a sack, but an O-lineman with grabby hands causes a drop from 25 to 12%.
Sacks are more fun to watch, but a flag throwing ref, who never takes a single hit, can determine a game’s outcome as much or more than a sack master.
Three or four holding flags against a single team? The other team usually wins!
And there’s your conspiracy theory of the day.
Pay a ref.
Bet big.
And bag the win!
August 12th, 2026 at 6:33 am
The bottom line is, we needs sacks because we don’t have any star corners. One corner goes down this year and we are done. I can’t believe we did such a great job of beefing up our defensive line and linebackers but didn’t jack s_h*t getting a #1 star corner in free agency or the draft. I’m looking forward to seeing the pressure our d-line makes this year, but guarantee we’ll be watching receivers run wild on our corners.
August 12th, 2026 at 6:56 am
Someone should have this conversation with JASON LICHT!. He is the reason team has not had a pass rush in 4 years. He is also the reason we almost did not have one for a fifth year in a row because he did not do a damn thing to make the young pass rushing stud Reuben Bain a BUC. Fortunately Reuben fell in our lap while Jason was busy trying to land one of 2 old injury plagued players in Crosby and Hendrickson at twice the price and for a shorter period of time than Bain, neither of whom even ended up being an option for the BUCS in the end anyway. Bain was always the best option for the team and everybody seemed to know that but Jason Licht. Which follows right along with his incompetence in negotiating with great players( Mike Evans Baker Mayfield Vita Vea)and his inability to focus on positions of need in the draft for so long that our defense and secondary depleted to the point they could not tackle pressure or cover anyone no matter how many points our QB put on the board. Todd admitted his third bad playcaller in three years was his focus the second half of last season and not the god awful defense. And yet who did Jason blame for the loss of our last season because of injuries which were caused by Jason’s and Todd’s incompetence, and not because Baker just chose to go out and get himself hurt and keep playing hurt because he does not make those decisions. Coaching staff does!!! . Jason hired baker because of his warrior mentality and his physical toughness and then used it against him to not pay him when he is the problem right down to choosing Todd Bowles over both Liam Coen and Dave Canales.
August 12th, 2026 at 6:58 am
WBL. Jack Burton Mercer.
I don’t know much. But what I do know is the QB who led the league in interceptions last year picked up a Lombardi trophy last year.
WBL. I know you know our turnover differential was much better in 2025 as compared to 2024.
Jack Burton Mercer- our QB chucked 16 interceptions in 2024 and only 11 in 2025. And we scored a touchdown a game more in 2024 than we did in 2025.
So I think I know 2 things, anyhow. 1.) WBL and Jack Burton Mercer aren’t as smart as they think they are. 2.) aggressive football beats passive football most of the time.
Joe is dead right about sacks. They are the result of aggressive football. So are TD passes (and sadly, sometimes, interceptions).
August 12th, 2026 at 7:44 am
The amount of stupid in here is at such a high level that it’s a fantastic way to start your day. Because you know that for the rest of day, when you run into all types that no matter what, no one will be dumber than some of these gems.
“Cut Kancey”..because of a August practice.
Kancey ONLY goal this camp should be to make it to week 1 fully healthy and ready to go. If anyone believes Kancey is going full blown 100% on rach play (like in years past) in August practices, then I have a lovely bridge you may interested in purchasing.
Good lord
August 12th, 2026 at 7:57 am
Then Vita needs to go 3.5 sacks in 17 games does not cut it.
August 12th, 2026 at 8:47 am
@Kenton
“Interceptions are game killers.
In the last five years, teams that throw 0 interceptions are 459-217 (.678) and cover 64.6% of games. Meanwhile, teams that throw an interception are 514-887 (.367) and cover 36.3% of games.
Sacks are drive killers.
In the last five years, teams that allow 0 sacks on a drive score on 41% of drives, punt on 32% of drives, score touchdowns on 26% of drives, and average 2.2 points per drive. Meanwhile, teams that allow at least 1 sack on a drive score on 25% of drives, punt on 50% of drives, score touchdowns on 9% of drives, and average 1.1 points per drive.”
-The Same Warren Sharp
Obviously going to assume your reaction was partly fueled by the one reason you’re following this team and who you go out of your way to defend when nobody was even talking about him. Somehow, you managed to tie JBM wondering about the INT side of the same data points, and me cheekily asking if it were the same Joe that tried to call INTs a crutch for bad red zone defense.
Sack or INT is a positive play for the defense, but the turnovers have a much more significant and immediate impact on games and teams’ ability to win/lose games than sacks. Not an opinion, it’s a one-size fits all fact.
Here’s something you may not know. Darnold went on a 4 game run with a busted up left oblique and didn’t throw a single INT on the way to an SB.
Did you know, your boy hasn’t had a INT-less streak that long since 2020?
August 12th, 2026 at 9:10 am
It’s obvious that interceptions are more important than sacks. Sacks mess up an offensive drive a bit and make things much harder whereas interceptions completely end the drive.
Same with forced fumbles. But forcing turnovers is much harder to do then getting sacks.
They’re much more random. The team that had the most sacks last year had twice as many as the defense that forced the most total turnovers last year.
Plus there’s a strong correlation with turnovers when the team can sack the quarterback. Due to the pressure a quarterback is under when he’s getting sacked, he will throw more interceptions trying to rush things and quarterbacks will frequently be strip sacked. So if you can rush the quarterback effectively, not only do you get more sacks but you will get more turnovers. It’s all tied together. An effective pass rush raises the entire defense statistically.
I don’t think the Bucs have a low priority in building a good pass rush, they have just done a pretty terrible job in drafting for it. Been a little iffy with free agency as well. You get JPP but you also sign Reddick. You take a chance on Barrett, you swing and miss on Vinny Curry.
Hopefully Mohammed pans out.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:27 am
WBL. All good for your one size fits all view of the game of football. But how you gonna explain that we threw 50% more picks in 2024 than 2025? Or why we had a much better positive turnover differential in 2025 than 2024, yet we won 2 more games in 2024?
There is a fine line between conservative football and aggressive football. And we were not only on the wrong side of that line last year, but we were mired in it. Injuries to our offense and a rookie playcaller surely had something to do with it.
Thankfully, Baker isn’t Jameis. Baker is a smart football player. Not a dumb football player. Might as well play to his strengths for as long as we’re fortunate enough to have him. Don’t you reckon?
August 12th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Bowles doesn’t value sacks. Pressures are his bread and butter.
His record speaks for itself. Check yo sheet. He’s a guru.
August 12th, 2026 at 9:39 am
Defensively, there’s not a single area that we DON’T need improvement.
That said, there is reason for optimism given this year’s additions.
August 12th, 2026 at 10:04 am
When the Bucs won their division, it was their defense and sack leaders like Sapp and linemen like him to the promise land. The Bucs have two Super Bowl rings. It’s very unlikely they will bring home the trophy in 2026. Jason Licht is building the foundation for that promise land hopefully next year. Brady showed the pathway by not breaking the Bank. In return, he retired with a network of around $700M. A LESSON FOR SUCCESS.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:15 am
Start Muhammad and make Bain earn a starting spot.
Muhammad is our most proven edge rusher.
August 12th, 2026 at 11:43 am
“All good for your one size fits all view of the game of football. But how you gonna explain that we threw 50% more picks in 2024 than 2025? Or why we had a much better positive turnover differential in 2025 than 2024, yet we won 2 more games in 2024?”
You missed the point in your never ending defense of your boy, when I was clearly talking about the value of INTs compared to sacks relevant to a past article Joe tried making a case about INTs being a “crutch” for a bad defense, when in actuality that’s one of the few things we improved on defensively from ’24 to ’25.
Nice try at an “A-Ha” Kenton, but you’ve got to be quicker than jarred honey.
August 12th, 2026 at 4:11 pm
Sack and hits, not pressures, also cause a lot of INT’s. The QB gets antsy, he doesn’t set his feet correctly, his foundation on the throw crumbles and the ball is over or underthrown or off target. CB gets all the credit which is BS.
August 12th, 2026 at 6:23 pm
If the QB gets sacked, Ask Trent Dilfer what it was like getting up off the ground. Sacks are kinda like crashes in NASCAR brother and, when your team is getting them YEAH BABY!!!!
August 12th, 2026 at 10:49 pm
Sacks don’t matter if you can’t cover anybody or the coach has the players so confused they don’t cover anybody. If you get 7 yard sacks on 1st and and 2nd down its 3rd and 28.