Max Protect? What is that exactly?

[txramsfan]

How can the Rams use something called Max Protect and STILL give up the most sack yards in the NFL? What is Max Protect? Keep the FB in? Boy that helped. Keep the TE close? Worked ever so welll last year didn't it?

I don't get this max protect crap. Someone help me please.

[Nick]

It would seem to me that the idea of max protect is supposed to better protect the quarterback or take protection pressure off of the offensive line. However, if you think about it, by devoting more personnel to pass protection, you're effectively taking away targets for the quarterback to throw to during the play. For example, in a formation with two wide receivers, two tight ends, and one halfback, the quarterback has the potential for five targets. If one tight end and the halfback are devoted to pass protection, the quarterback only has three targets: the two WRs and the one remaining TE. If those three targets are covered -- and less face it, it's easier to cover two WRs and a TE than it is, say, four WRs and a delayed HB route -- then the quarterback has few if any options at this point. So I'm inclined to believe that max protect has the potential to hurt an offense as much as it does help because it takes away offensive targets.

If you look at Marc Bulger's situational stats, there are a number of interesting pieces of information. Of the four formations that ESPN has situational stats for (shotgun, backs split, I-formation, lone setback), the backs split formation has the highest sack percentage. Bulger attempted 98 passes in this formation, and was sacked 10 times. That's a sack percentage of over 10%. No other formation has a percentage higher than six percent. Now in terms of number of wide receivers, the highest sack percentage falls when there are two or fewer receivers on the field. That seems to raise my eyebrow, because when I think of max protect, I think of formations that have a tight end or a fullback in to help pick up rushers, meaning fewer wide receivers. You don't normally associate max protect with three or four wide receiver sets, but these passing stats seem to imply that the Rams give up fewer sacks when more receivers are in the game, and that by using formations that lower the number of targets -- which I believe would be consistent with a max protection formation -- the Rams are in fact more likely to give up a sack. So perhaps if the Rams want to decrease the number of sacks, one possible way might be to keep a number of targets on the field so that the quarterback has a place to dump the ball off if pressure comes his way. And who knows, perhaps the Rams did that and Bulger wasn't making the reads. We know he's had problems checking down to Faulk, so this would be something he needs to definitely improve on as well.

Just my two cents.

[sbramfan]

I think the west coast offense is designed to be the happy medium between max protect, and the greatest show on turf (aka, everyone go out for a pass).

Max protect has the problem that there aren't enough weopons out there to throw to, and the other way means not enough time to throw the ball.

IF you have a great offensive line and don't use your tight end much in the passing game, then you can be a bit more aggressive like we did for awhile there...

But when that isn't working, I'm not sure the answer is to try to MAX protect, especially since that works against the strengths of this team.

Unfortunately, we will not go far if we have to change to more of a max protect offense. The O' Line just has to step up and give reasonable protection so that we can get "Isaac Holt" going, and get Curtis/Looker/MacDonald in the mix, with Faulk as an outlet and occasionally the primary receiver. It's our bread and butter.

[ramfaninpgh]

A vary valuable and insightful two cents, Nick. Thanks!

[txramsfan]

That's why I think all this max protect talk is just that.....talk. I really don't think the Rams max protected Bulger. If anything, Bulger just had less weapons at his disposal. He had no speed at 3 WR, played quite a bit without Faulk, and still led the NFC in passing yards.

Take that max protect stuff and put it somewhere else because the Rams didn't really max protect Bulger. Maybe Bulger had a quicker release than some of you thought.

[tanus]

max protect is when you have everyone blocking except for two receivers and the qb.

[Rambos]

Marc likes max protect, he is not as good as Warner was, in finding the 4th and 5th read.

[txramsfan]

Rambos, he's not? Take a look at Looker's stats....you might be surprised. They are similar to Hakim's.

[elAcky]

we have no short passing game.... faulk was missing and no confidence with our TE's... should have gone for a big short yardage receiver in FA.

[adarian_too]

"Max Protect" is what you say when you finally admit that the QB's play wasn't all the QB's fault but you don't want to admit that QB's play was partly your fault too.