08-04-2007, 01:30 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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Quote:
August 4, 2007
Sacks slip, but Freeney hasn't
Despite career-low 5 1/2 last season, he and Colts know how valuable he is to champs.
By Mike Chappell
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- There were times last season when frustration threatened to get the best of Dwight Freeney.
"I'm used to having big numbers,'' the Indianapolis Colts' three-time Pro Bowl defensive end said. "Obviously I would love to lead the league and everything like that, but things happen.''
Bottom line, what happened was a dramatic decline in Freeney's sack total. After collecting at least 11 in each of his first four seasons, including an NFL-best and club-record 16 in 2004, the team's career sack leader managed only 51/2 last season. He failed to record a sack in the first six games -- the longest drought of his career -- and in 12 of 16 regular-season games overall.
Sure, he was frustrated. Heck, Freeney said he is frustrated even after his best performances.
"That's how I play the game,'' he said during a recent lull at training camp at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. "If I'm not on the quarterback every play and making the big play every play, I'm always going to find something (wrong).
"If you take my name and say, 'Oh, 51/2 (sacks),' . . . I'm not used to that.''
Neither are the Colts, but that didn't stop them from making Freeney the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history this offseason. He signed a six-year, $72 million package that included a $30 million signing bonus.
"(Freeney) played well enough for us to feel like he deserved to be paid,'' coach Tony Dungy said. "I don't think (owner Jim Irsay) is in the habit of just giving (money) away.''
Some may wonder how Freeney will respond to the mega-contract -- will he be less motivated? -- and also whether he'll bounce back from the "down'' season.
He dismisses the former -- "I just love to go out and play ball'' -- and disagrees with the premise of the latter.
Freeney points out that he had a team-high 33 "pressures'' last year. Awarded by defensive line coach John Teerlinck after reviewing game video, pressures are when a player forces the quarterback to get rid of the football early. Add those 33 to Freeney's sack total, and that makes 381/2 times that he got to the QB. Compare that to his 35 sacks/pressures in 2005, when he was voted to his third straight Pro Bowl.
Also, the Colts' inability to stop the run meant fewer chances for sacks. The Colts faced a league-low 440 passing opportunities (pass attempts plus sacks), their third-lowest total in a 16-game season. Buffalo's JP Losman dropped back to pass only 16 times, Jacksonville's David Garrard only 15.
"If a team only passes 14 times in a game . . . it's tough,'' Freeney said. "Out of those 14 times, I get double-teamed probably 10 of the 14. I only got four attempts to get a sack. It's not going to happen."
Still . . . 51/2?
"It's sad because (sack statistics are) misinforming the public of exactly what's happening."
Anyway, he adds, the Colts know.
"This is a great organization and they understand what it really takes," Freeney said. "It's not always about your numbers. It's about your impact and what kind of player you are and how you change the team and change the game, the intangibles.''[/b]
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