Film Room: Breaking Down Bradley Chubb's 2020 Sacks

All eyes have been on Bradley Chubb after the Denver Broncos passed on multiple quarterbacks to select him fifth overall in the 2018 NFL draft. Chubb followed that up with a great rookie year before he suffered an ACL tear four games into his 2019 season.

Following a good 2020 campaign that saw Chubb earn Pro Bowl honors on top of his 7.5 sacks, he's rapidly approaching that window of being able to garner a big extension. Denver has high expectations for him, especially with the supporting cast around him on defense.

Von Miller's return to the field will take a lot of focus off of Chubb that he absorbed in 2020. But it isn’t just Miller that should be a big help to Chubb, but also Shelby Harris and the continued development of Dre’Mont jones on the defensive line.

Chubb needs to build his Pro Bowl season in Year 4. Today, we're continuing to break down all of his sacks from last season to get an idea of what Chubb can bring this year. This is Part II and will cover his final four sacks of the season.

If you missed Part I, you can find it here.

Sack 5: Kansas City Chiefs | First Quarter

Situation: 3rd-&-4

The Chiefs are bunched together with 10 of their 11 players inside the numbers. Denver answers on defense with three at the top and six in the box in a 4-2 spread front. The Broncos leave the middle open, daring the Chiefs to run the ball in the short-yardage situation.

Off the snap, the three interior offensive linemen collapse inside to take the Broncos' two down-linemen. With LB Josey Jewell (at the top) coming on a blitz, the left tackle has to decide between Chubb and Jewell. The choice was Jewell, leaving Chubb unblocked.

The quarterback has a chance to dump the ball to the running back, but Chubb got into the throwing lane. From there, it was simple to land after his leap and make the sack. There isn’t much technique to the win here as he went unblocked, but Chubb did show his football IQ.

Often, when a pass rusher goes unblocked, he takes the shortest path to the quarterback. If Chubb had done that, it would’ve been simple to dump it to the back. But, instead, he keeps it high to block the throwing lane and force the quarterback to hold onto the ball and get the sack.

Sack 6: Los Angeles Chargers | Fourth Quarter

Situation: 2nd-&-21

The Chargers spread out the defense, and the Broncos match, leaving the middle wide open. Unlike the play above, this is a long down-and-distance situation, so Denver is safe to leave the middle open as a run is unlikely. The Broncos are in what is essentially their base defense 1 4-2 nickel.

Chubb is at the top of the line next to Harris, and both of them get stalled on their initial pass rush. Chubb was trying to take the outside shoulder of the left tackle with the angle of his pass rush. However, the tackle does a good job of keeping his hands active, preventing Chubb from taking the outside shoulder.

Harris gets the initial win inside, but the left guard recovers to stall him. The response from Harris is to spin out of contact, which is what opens the door for Chubb to get the sack. Chubb uses the opening to cut inside, crossing the face of the tackle and guard.

Thanks to pressure from Malik Reed against the right tackle, the Chargers' QB Justin Herbert has to climb the pocket, which puts him right in Chubb's path after his change in attack. From there, it was simple for Chubb to close and make the sack.

There isn’t a lot that is impressive from an individual level on this sack. The relentless motor from Chubb is great to see, and you want to see it from every individual pass rusher. What's more impressive about this play, though, is that it was the culmination of three players working in unison. This is a true team sack.

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Sack 7: Miami Dolphins | Fourth Quarter

Situation: 1st-&-20

The look the Broncos give the Dolphins a dime package look with one down lineman face up on the center. From there, the Broncos have two pass rushers, both as 7-techniques off the tackle's outside shoulder, keeping one linebacker (Jewell) in the middle while lining up the other (Alexander Johnson) is between the down linemen and Chubb.

This formation puts a lot of strain on the left side of the Dolphins’ offensive line, which they exploit. Chubb, off the snap, starts upfield and gets the left tackle to set heavy deep. Alexander Johnson drives the left guard’s outside shoulder, creating the gap on the inside.

From there, we get the Vic Fangio special: a stunt. Chubb cuts it inside, exploiting the overset of the tackle while Johnson controls the guard. If the guard lets Johnson go, the tackle can’t catch him, which leaves him with the shot on the quarterback. The only hope to prevent a sack on this play was for the QB to get rid of the ball.

The tackle tries to cut it inside and catch Chubb, but it's too late. Chubb gets to the quarterback for the easy sack on the stunt pass rush. It was excellently executed, but the Broncos also got helped by the Dolphins' o-line being so inexperienced.

This was a good rep from Chubb as he had to sell the high arc rush to get the tackle to overset, but it isn’t as simple as it seems. Chubb has to sell that without progressing upfield too much himself so he can have the natural change-of-direction to cut it inside. A brilliant play by Chubb with many well-executed techniques to sell his fake rush plan.

Sack 8: New Orleans Saints | First Quarter

Situation: 3rd-&-5

The Saints are keeping it tight on offense, which forces the Broncos to mirror. The Broncos are in a nickel package with two down linemen, two linebackers, and two pass rushers. Chubb is the 7-technique at the top of the formation off of the left tackle’s outside shoulder.

Off the snap, the two down linemen — Dre’Mont Jones and DeMarcus Walker — get an excellent push up the middle. Then after a second, the duo pulls off a stunt, which lets Jones scream up the middle, mostly unblocked. After the stunt, Walker does a good job driving through his block to get pressure as well.

This forces the quarterback to move around the pocket and climb, and his path takes him directly to Chubb. While he was mostly shut down in his pass rush by the left tackle, Chubb does a good job of maintaining position. He shuts down the outside lane to keep the quarterback contained before cutting inside to pick up the sack.

This was another team sack from Chubb, as most of his on the season were. However, the individual component was what made this sack impressive. Chubb maintained his position and this should be expected as it's the standard for all pass rushers. He does it to perfection.

Ultimate Takeaway

The majority of Chubb’s sacks were not the result of individual pass-rushing dominance on his part. Instead, the Broncos forced the quarterback to be uncomfortable to help create the opening for Chubb. This was largely the result of focusing on Chubb as an individual and without fearing Denver's other pass rushers.

With Miller back in the equation, and factoring in the expected progress from other rushers, Chubb should get more opportunities to shine on an individual level. Last season, Chubb displayed the ability to win his reps but it didn’t always result in a sack.

Pressures are the best indicator of sacks, and he tallied a lot last year. That prolific number of QB pressures should translate better to sacks this coming season.

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