Yesterday, we broke down four of Keith Butler’s Fire Zones, a game where his defense took down Austin Davis seven times. Today, we’ll take a different approach at the same point. A statistical method to show how often he did.
We’ve completed our weekly defensive charting, categorizing every single play from Sunday’s win. The Cleveland Browns dropped back 61 times. Of those 61, Butler rushed five 39 times, or 63.9%. He blitzed 31 times, 54.1%. Those numbers appear striking but how do they stack up with the rest of the season? A breakdown of each game.
Week 1 – New England
Rush 5+: 22.2%
Blitz: 19.4%
Week 2 – San Francisco
Rush 5+: 27.3%
Blitz: 29.1%
Week 3 – St. Louis
Rush 5+: 21.9%
Blitz: 18.8%
Week 4 – Baltimore
Rush 5+: 41%
Blitz: 46.2%
Week 5 – San Diego
Rush 5+: 32.1%
Blitz: 32.1%
Week 6- Arizona
Rush 5+: 41.2%
Blitz: 43.1%
Week 7 – Kansas City
Rush 5+: 37.1%
Blitz: 45.7%
Week 8 – Cincinnati
Rush 5+: 37%
Blitz: 21.7%
Week 9 – Oakland
Rush 5+: 41.3%
Blitz: 47.8%
Week 10 – Cleveland
Rush 5+: 20%
Blitz: 27.3%
Week 12 – Seattle
Rush 5+: 33.3%
Blitz: 33.3%
Week 13 – Indianapolis
Rush 5+: 36.6%
Blitz: 31.8%
Week 14 – Cincinnati
Rush 5+: 20.5%
Blitz: 22.7%
Week 15 – Denver
Rush 5+: 26.9%
Blitz: 26.9%
Week 16 – Baltimore
Rush 5+: 16.3%
Blitz: 23.3%
Week 17 – Cleveland
Rush 5+: 63.9%
Blitz: 54.1%
Wow, what a difference a week makes. From Week 16, just about Butler’s most passive game of the year, to Sunday, by far his most aggressive. Butler didn’t touch 50% in either category until the finale.
What’s also interesting, a look ahead the Wild Card matchup versus Cincinnati, is how relatively passive Butler was in both matchups against the Bengals. Didn’t blitz over 23% in either game. It’ll be interesting to see if that gameplan changes in the third meeting.
