NFL: Ranking Each Division by Pass-Rushing Ability

It's been said that the three most important things a football team should have are a quarterback, a quality offensive line, and a pass rush.

Aside from the quarterback, the pass rush is clearly the most exciting aspect to watch. Nothing imposes more fear upon opponents than a dominant, tenacious pass rush.

It's no surprise that the toughest teams in the league all have guys who can really get after the quarterback.

It's a passing league now, further accentuating the importance of a great pass rush. Four weeks into the season, quarterbacks have been sacked 291 times.

With that being said, it's time to look at which divisions in the NFL wield the strongest pass rushers.

8. AFC East

The AFC East has a terrible paucity of pass rushers.

It's amazing how the division still manages to stay afloat as one of the league's best.

Jason Babin has more sacks than the entire Bills team, the entire Dolphins team, and the entire Patriots team.

With New England, it's becoming somewhat of a perennial issue.

Despite this year's acquisitions of Albert Haynesworth, Mark Anderson, Andre Carter, and Shaun Ellis, the Patriots still have one of the worst pass rushes in the league.

The best pass rusher in the division is Cameron Wake of the Dolphins. Wake has three sacks on the year so far.

The Jets are the best pass rushing team in the division, though they lack any standout talent in the area.

It could be argued that the Dolphins and the Bills are under-performing. Both have some big-name players, like Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, Cameron Wake, Koa Misi, Randy Starks, and Karlos Dansby.

7. NFC West

Remind me again why this division has to send one team to the playoffs each year?

This division has the worst quarterbacks, finished last year with no team having a winning record, and it also has one of the worst pass rushes.

Most of the pass rushing productivity in this division comes from veteran players, like Chris Clemons, Justin Smith, Darnell Dockett, Calais Campbell, Raheem Brock, and James Hall.

Justin Smith is by far the best player of the crop.

What saves the division is the fact that while they lack huge, media-beloved pass rushing superstars, the veterans of the division are quite underrated.

Chris Clemons, James Hall, and Raheem Brock combined with 30 seasons of experience(including this year), sacked the quarterback 30.5 times altogether last season.

The division also has attempted to grow young talent. Chris Long, O'Brien Schofield, Robert Quinn, and Aldon Smith are intriguing names to follow in this division. 

6. AFC West

The AFC West is slightly better than the previous two divisions.

The best pass rusher in the division is Tamba Hali. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, he's the only guy who can rush the passer this year for them.

Hali has four out of the five sacks for the Chiefs.

San Diego has an array of talented rushers. Six guys have all sacked the quarterback at least once already for the Chargers.

The Raiders pride themselves with playing hard-nosed football. They have a decent crop in Richard Seymour, Matt Shaughnessy, Jarvis Moss, Tommy Kelly, and Kamerion Wimbley.

Finally, there's the Broncos. The Broncos shocked some in selecting Von Miller second overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, but there's no doubt that it was a good pick.

Miller has been simply wonderful this year, and with Dumervil coming back, there's major potential in the Bronco's pass rush.

5. NFC South

The NFC South, though ranked low, is miles above the previous three divisions.

None of these four teams are exactly weak in the pass rush department. None of the four teams are dominant either though.

The Falcons have a strong 1-2 punch in John Abraham and Ray Edwards.

The Panthers also have a strong 1-2 punch in Greg Hardy and Charles Johnson. The pair has combined for all the sacks by the Panther's team this year so far.

The Saints, while lacking a big name stud, have an aggressive defense spearheaded by creative defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. They surprisingly lead the division in sacks.

Finally, there's the promising Buccaneers. One of the league's youngest teams, Tampa Bay has two up and coming pass rushers in Adrian Clayborn and Michael Bennett.

Though this division clearly has talent, more talent is going to be needed. The NFC South has the most promising quarterbacking situations in the league and average pass rushes may not suffice for long.

4. AFC South

Now the talent is starting to become strong.

The Colts have arguably the best pass-rushing bookend defensive ends in the league.

Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis have been wreaking havoc on the league for many years now.

Both players combine for 174 sacks and 80 forced fumbles in their careers.

The Jags, known for their fairly simple defense, are the weakest in the division. Tyson Alualu proved to be a good pick, but there's not much else on the defense. Matt Roth has also been a contributing free agent pickup.

The Titans are one of those teams that lack big name players, but always get the job done with lunch-pail, homegrown defensive linemen.

I truly could not name one Titans defensive linemen off the top of my head, but the group has been pretty impressive, sacking the quarterback ten times this season.

A few Titan players to note are Derrick Morgan, Jason Jones, William Hayes, Jurrell Casey, and Dave Ball.

Finally, there are the Texans. The Texans had a long history of being soft, but Wade Phillips has brought an aggressive, meaner approach to this defense.

Taking advantage of a talented defensive front, Phillips has helped Houston rack up twelve sacks so far this year.

They have many notable players, including Mario Williams, J.J. Watt, Antonio Smith, Conner Barwin, Brooks Reed, and Brian Cushing.

3. AFC North

The Ravens and Steelers highlight the pass rushing prowess of this division.

The Steelers led the league last year with 48 sacks.

Dick LeBeau, widely believed to be the best defensive coordinator in football, uses exotic blitzes with extremely talented players to generate an effective pass rush and defensive domination.

The Ravens are seen by many in the same light as the Steelers. Both teams are hard-nosed, mentally tough, and make their mark known on defense.

Players on the two teams' rosters include James Harrison, Lamarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Aaron Smith, Evander Hood, Casey Hampton, Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis, and Terrell Suggs.

Yes, that's an amazing group.

The Browns and Bengals, although no where in the league of the Steelers or Ravens, have young promise at the pass rushing positions.

The Bengals have Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap as future bookends, with the disruptive Geno Atkins in the middle. The Browns have Ahtyba Rubin, Jabaal Sheard, Phil Taylor, and D'Qwell Jackson playing well for them.

2. NFC North

The NFC North, no doubt, has the biggest names.

B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, Ndamukong Suh, and Jared Allen are enough to make the NFC North easily one of the most imposing pass-rushing divisions in football.

I don't think there's much more to be said. Every team in this division has an elite pass rusher, if not two.

The Lions were able to fluster an otherwise unstoppable Brady this year.

Allen quietly has racked up more sacks alone than eight whole teams so far. Suh and Matthews, though both slightly overrated, are arguably the most prominent two young pass rushers in the league.

And Peppers is the most expensive defensive end in the league.

These four teams are all stacked in the pass rushing department.

1. NFC East

And finally, we come to the most talented pass rushing division in football: the NFC East.

All four teams in this division are stacked with pass rush ability. The Eagles, Redskins, and Cowboys are among the top three in the league in sacks. The Giants are fifth.

The Cowboys are led by arguably the best pass rusher in the league Demarcus Ware and penetrating nose tackle Jay Ratliff.

Despite such ability, Dallas is probably the worst pass rushing team in the division, only because the rest of the division is so talented.

The Redskins have found two very talented young players in Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan. Both have played very well so far, with Orakpo named NFC defensive player of the week in Week 4.

They are part of a defense that includes London Fletcher, Adam Carriker, and Stephen Bowen.

Then, there are the Eagles. The Eagles picked up Jason Babin in free agency, and he is leading the league with seven sacks so far.

Opposite of him is Trent Cole, one of the most consistent, underrated defensive ends in the NFL. Finally, there's free agent pickup Cullen Jenkins, who has been effective in the middle.

Last but not least, there are the Giants. The Giants have to have the most stacked defensive line in the league. Chris Canty, Linval Joseph, Dave Tollefson, and Michael Boley have all played well this year. And they're not even the stars of this team.

The real meat of the Giants defensive line has yet to all play together. Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Mathias Kiwanuka are four of the most fearsome pass rushers in the league.

When all four play together, they'll be continuously rotated to be kept fresh. And then there are the immensely productive backups.

Just wait, NFL, just wait. The best of the Giants is yet to come.

Conclusion

The landscape of the NFL is continuously changing.

This year, emerging pass rushers like Jason Pierre-Paul, Ryan Kerrigan, Michael Bennett, Adrian Clayborn, Jason Babin, Greg Hardy, and Von Miller have changed the NFL dramatically.

It's been a real pleasure to see such new talent come in this year.

These are some of the faces of the future.

I hope you enjoyed the article. If you have any disagreements or comments, feel free to post below.