I think the 17 sacks, through what would be 8 weeks, would work out to 34 sacks across 17 games. Not a huge statistical improvement, it’s about the same actually.Baker so far has been sacked 17 times which is still surprisingly low given he was sacked 40 times last season. So yeah Baker has taken a beating but with a better OL post bye I think he takes off for the second half of the season.
In the 4 games of being able to play like Houdini, surviving by getting out of the pocket and extending plays, still opened him up to a lot of hits over those 4 come-from-behind wins in the last minute. The Lions game, the o-line & refs just about finished touches him. Although Baker seems to recover pretty quickly, he needs some offensive weapons to throw to/lean on. Will he have them?
Moving forward after the bye, we need to protect him better if we’re going to have any relevance in the playoffs. The line must also generate a run game, something we haven’t yet put on the field this season. The run-game finally developing is also a critical need for any significant playoff relevance. I don’t want just a one and done playoff run this season.
Gotta get some offensive weapons for him to utilize.
The final need, to me, would be an EDGE that can be trusted to shut down a game in the second half. I know we have/can generate sacks, but currently, that is accomplished only by taking someone out of coverage. The front 4 has to generate a killer pass rush.
Not sure the EDGE addition will be able to be significantly addressed in a trade by next week. Too many hunters (teams), not enough qualified players. That means the cost has increased for the relevant gain. That’s not something Licht has historically done. We’ll see.
Maybe but the OL was intact last year and you had a better run game and yet he was sacked 40 times, so that goes to show you that play calling isn't so black and white as there are many shades of gray.