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Effective pass rush


DeForest Buckner knows what it looks like when a defensive line, and a defense as a whole, is able to generate a ton of pressure on the quarterback.


He was, after all, a cornerstone piece of an extremely talented San Francisco 49ers' defense last year that bullied its way into the opposing team's backfield on a week-to-week basis all the way to, and through, their Super Bowl LIV loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.


Now five games into his Colts tenure, Buckner can make meaningful parallels from the 49ers' defensive approach to the Colts', and he likes what he sees so far — even looking beyond just simply how many sacks the unit has.


"I think we're doing a pretty good job with that – with having some type of effect on the quarterback," Buckner said. "Like you said, (sacks) go a long way, but pressures, hits, that always affects the quarterback. His thought process – dropping back and having that constant pressure in his face and little things like that, can we do it better? Yes, but are we still being effective."


That being said, like anything else, there is room for improvement. The Colts currently rank 21st in the NFL in total pressures generated (sacks/QB hits/hurries), according to Pro Football Focus, although their sack percentage (6.4) ranks 13th.


Buckner and the Colts hope to jumpstart that improvement process on Sunday, when they play host to the Bengals, who allow pressure on the quarterback on 39.9 percent of their offensive snaps, according to PFF, which is the fifth-highest rate in the league.


"Each and every week we just have to keep grinding, keep working to finish those plays because there is a lot that we give up individually, as a team. There are opportunities that we miss all the time, it's crazy," Buckner said. "We think we're good, but we can be even better. Just watching the opportunities that we simply just – we miss the layups. We have to make sure we finish those, and when we are finishing those that's when it can be really dominate."