Next to turnovers, a sack is one of the best outcomes for a defense against an offense in football. But Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell recently downplayed the importance of sacks.
During a recent press conference, Dan Campbell was asked about the team’s pass rush and the team’s struggles to get sacks despite a high number of pressures last season. While Campbell acknowledged that the team “absolutely” wants to finish plays with sacks, he also said that sacks “aren’t that big of a deal” as long as a team is pressuring the quarterback.
“We watched a couple clips this morning in front of the team,” Campbell said according to SI.com. “Quarterback is wanting to step up. He can’t step up, the throw is high. He’s flipping to his right, and he can’t get his hips around. Throw a pick. These things that end up in negative plays as incomplete, as turnovers, whatever, I’ll take those all day long.”
That’s good news for the Lions as they ranked No. 3 in the entire league in terms of pressures last season, even if they ranked just 23rd in terms of sacks. The team would undoubtedly like to see that pass-rushing success continue this season.
