The Denver Broncos have faced a relentless onslaught of pass rushers this season — almost every week. Some have been handled exceptionally well, while others have been allowed to dominate the game.
The next one is Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions. He has 76 total pressures on the season, but he has only finished with a sack 6.5 times this season.
Hutchinson is causing problems, but for one reason or another, he has struggled with finishing the play. There is no player with as big of a discrepancy between pressures and sacks as Hutchinson, as every other player with at least 60 pressures has double-digit sacks.
Hutchinson's 76 pressures rank third in the NFL, and his pass-rush win rate ranks fifth, but he stands at No. 29 in sacks. Every reason you can think might hold a pass rusher back is an issue when studying his game film. There are pathways to escape for the quarterback, they get rid of the ball, and even issues from Hutchinson bringing the passer down.
However, where Hutchinson lines up is what makes him such a significant threat to the Broncos. He plays mostly off the right tackle, with 581 of his 750 snaps lining up there and only 161 on the opposite side. Due to the clear issues with Mike McGlinchey, Hutchinson will be lining up against the Broncos' right tackle 90-plus percent of the time.
McGlinchey deserves a hat tip, however, after playing a great game handling Khalil Mack and the Los Angeles Chargers' pass rushers. It was McGlinchey's best game of the season and has restored some lost confidence in him. However, can he have a game like that in back-to-back weeks?
When talking about the onslaught of pass rushers the Broncos have faced, most of their success has come against McGlinchey. The games where he was the clear matchup winner are few and far between this season, especially when you focus on the high-quality pass rushers.
He last won a matchup with the Chicago Bears in Week 4. Yannick Ngakoue is a talented pass rusher, but he spent more time against Garett Bolles than McGlinchey.
There are plenty of questions about McGlinchey's ability to hold up, and rightfully so. Can he more than hold his own in back-to-back games? Hutchinson will be a challenging task, and the way he rushes has been one of McGlinchey's biggest vulnerabilities.
Time will tell, but on paper, it would be surprising if McGlinchey walks away the winner here in the matchup.
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