#pass-rush

#pass-rush

A knee injury sidelined Booker for the first eight weeks of the season, but he made his presence known quickly, recording a sack and forced fumble in his season debut against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9. Booker was held out of the sack column on the stat sheet in his next five games, but finished the season strong. Headlined by a two-sack performance against the Cleveland Browns in December, Booker finished the season on a high note with a stellar five-game run.

The wide receiver has played out of his mind this season. He roasts every defensive coverage and has morphed into a three-level threat: beating man-coverage quickly off the snap, showing fearlessness to attack the middle of the field and stretching away from deep coverage. Klint Kubiak, the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, has channeled the entire Seattle offense through his star receiver. Smith-Njigba lines up everywhere: out wide, in the slot, in the backfield. From any of those looks, he's a matchup nightmare.

While the Bears found success with Montez Sweat, their edge pass-rush rotation was otherwise limited, as no other edge rusher with at least 100 pass-rush snaps posted a pass-rush win rate above 10%. Ultimately, Chicago finished just 29th in pressure rate (31.1%) during the regular season, highlighting the need for a game-breaking presence off the edge. Reuniting Hendrickson with his former defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, makes sense.

Entering the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys have a lot of holes to address. While the defense stood out as the team's most glaring concern, the offense still has some under-the-radar areas to supplement. After some blockbuster trades this past season, the Cowboys have six draft picks currently, and possibly some compensatory picks. That said, Dallas will have limited ammunition to fill needs. Looking at where the Cowboys stand, here are the five most important positions for Dallas to set their sights on.

Von Miller left the Washington Commanders wanting another go-around with the franchise in 2026. The aging edge rusher thought he was joining a Super Bowl contender, and even though things didn't work out that way, he outlined his desire to help get this storied club back on track. It didn't take long for that to change, which could hint that a difficult conversation has already taken place between Miller and those in positions of power.

Bain Jr. is Miami's built-in chaos button off the edge, playing with low pads, heavy hands, and a first step that jolts tackles before they settle, with enough size to kick inside and handle guards on passing downs. He wins with leverage, torque, and a relentless motor that turns pressures into drive-killers, and he sets a sturdy edge for a guy his size.

Herbert certainly felt the thunder against the Texans. The NFL's top defense recorded 26 pressures as it swarmed through the Chargers' offensive line en route to a 20-16 win Saturday. And Herbert saw the lightning, best represented by second-string defensive end Derek Barnett's back-to-back sacks to halt the Chargers' first drive of the second half. The latter of Barnett's takedowns - part of the Texans' five sacks and eight tackles for loss - came when he spun past Bobby Hart and brought down Herbert for a seven-yard loss.

Booker's Week 15 tape against Minnesota looked as though he was a stabilizing force. In pass protection, the simplest stat tells the story: Dallas surrendered two sacks, but none were credited to Booker. As a run blocker, Booker had a tougher assignment but held up. Dallas still ran it 30 times for 138 yards, so there were lanes to be had, but a lot of those yards came through persistence rather than consistent movement at the point of attack.

Tom: Let's start with the low hanging fruit. Too often the defense has just lain down and given up big plays. For a few games it looked better, but against the Lions, they surrendered six plays of 20+ yards. One was a 35-yard run, but the rest were Jared Goff tearing it up through the air. The real culprit seemed to be the lack of a pass rush with just one sack of Goff. It's hard to see how this can be fixed.