Clay Matthews Led the NFL in Untouched Sacks

Filed under: Packers, NFL Analysis Clay Matthews is one of the best pass rushers in the league, so you would think that no matter where he is, offenses would want to make sure that he's always accounted for by their pass protection scheme. So it might surprise you to learn that Matthews led the league in unblocked sacks last year. There were four different sacks when Matthews was able to come through completely untouched to bring down the quarterback. Initially I believed that this was a credit to Dom Capers' scheme, which managed to confuse defenses enough to let the Packers' best pass rusher come free, but in checking back over my notes it's more of a credit to Matthews' ability to read a play on the fly. Twice Matthews came on a delayed blitz where the offensive line did not account for him because it appeared he was not rushing. It's difficult to say if these were designed delayed blitzes or simply plays where Matthews was able to rush late because he w...