National Football League

Chiefs, Colts wins prove the power of protection in New York Life Index

Published Dec. 20, 2011 7:16 p.m. ET

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NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS) - It can topple the undefeated and lift the winless.

If ever there was a day which displayed the value of pass protection, Sunday was it.

Kyle Orton was kept clean throughout as the Kansas City Chiefs ended the Green Bay Packers' run at a perfect season. And if that wasn't enough, solid offensive line play helped Indianapolis beat the Tennessee Titans, finally securing the Colts' first win of the year in Week 14.

Three of the five teams that did not allow a sack last week - the Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and Colts - claimed the top three spots in the latest New York Life Protection Index.

The NYLPI is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive linemen, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.

One week after Romeo Crennel replaced the fired Todd Haley as coach and gave Orton his first start since Oct. 9 with Denver, Kansas City (6-8) shocked previously unbeaten Green Bay 19-14 at Arrowhead Stadium to remain in the hunt for an AFC playoff spot.

"We should all feel pretty good," Crennel said. "Everybody had marked it off as a win for the Packers, but those guys in the locker room, they're football players. They decided that they were not going to lay down. They were not going to give up, so they went out and played a tremendous game.''

Crennel's offensive line was a big reason for the upset. The Chiefs front five committed just one false start and provided consistent protection for Orton, who was knocked down once and never hurried. The result was a week-best 105.4 NYLPI rating.

It was the league's eighth-highest score of the season, and Kansas City's best since grading out at 74.7 during a 28-0 win at Oakland on Oct. 23. It also marked the second time this season the Chiefs did not allow a sack.

The effort was one week removed from Kansas City posting a 38.3 against the New York Jets, a game which saw Tyler Palko get sacked five times in a 37-10 road loss.

In just his second game since being claimed off waivers on Nov. 23, Orton was 23 of 31 for 299 yards while leading the Chiefs to 19 points - their most since a 23-20 win over San Diego on Oct. 31.

The Chiefs had the ball for 36:11, compared to 23:49 for the Packers.

Green Bay star Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times for the second consecutive week as the Packers had a 54.2 rating while having their 19-game winning streak snapped.

"I personally always viewed the undefeated season as, really, just gravy," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "The goal was to get home-field advantage and win the Super Bowl."

While the Packers won't go undefeated, neither will the Colts (1-13) go without a victory, thanks to a 27-13 home win over Tennessee.

The much-maligned front five of the Colts did not allow a sack, false start or holding penalty while posting a 97.7 NYLPI rating. It was the third-highest rating of the week, but Indianapolis' second-best of the season, behind only a 99.6 from a 27-15 loss to Kansas City on Oct. 9.

Quarterback Dan Orlovsky was knocked down just once while going 11 of 17 for 82 yards with a touchdown to win his first game in 10 career starts.

In addition to the stellar pass protection, the Colts' line paved the way for Donald Brown to rush for a career-high 161 yards and a touchdown.

"The O-line did a great job," Brown said. "It was just an all-out great effort by the guys on offense."

San Diego's offense has been regularly producing great efforts lately, as the Chargers (7-7) have averaged 36.3 points during a three-game December winning streak that followed a six-game skid.

Philip Rivers has thrown seven touchdowns without an interception over the last three games for San Diego, which is still holding on to slim playoff hopes after a 34-14 win over Baltimore on Sunday night. He was 17 of 23 for 270 yards with a TD, but was not sacked while being hurried twice and knocked down once.

The Chargers front five also was not whistled for either a false start or holding call while recording a season-high 102.7 NYLPI rating Sunday. Rivers, meanwhile, has been sacked just five times in the last five weeks.

"The ball's coming out extremely quick. He's not taking chances," embattled Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "If it's not pretty clean, he's getting the ball checked down. He's playing at a high level."

The same could not be said for Joe Flacco and the Ravens' O-line. It allowed a season-high seven sacks in posting a season-low 26.5 NYLPI rating.

Another disappointing performance came from the New York Jets, whose quarterback, Mark Sanchez, said he is "feeling good" after he was sacked four times and suffered a neck injury during a 45-19 loss at Philadelphia. The Jets' 11.5 NYLPI rating was by far their lowest of the season.

Still, it wasn't as bad as Jacksonville's. Due to a suspect offensive line and the continued poor play of rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, the Jaguars (4-10) remained at the bottom of the 2011 NYLPI rankings with a 43.3 overall rating. The Jaguars posted a week-low 7.2 in a 41-14 loss at Atlanta on Thursday night.

Gabbert was sacked five times and knocked down six by the Falcons while throwing a touchdown and his fifth interception in the last four games. Though the line play in front of him has not been great - it's given up 36 sacks this season - Gabbert is quick to take the blame for a majority of those mistakes.

"I've just got to get rid of the ball," Gabbert said. "I can't take those sacks. That's completely on me. I've got to find our checkdowns, find our hot reads and get rid of it."

On the opposite end of the NYLPI overall rankings, the New Orleans Saints remain on top for the season at 86.2.

For the fourth time in six games, Drew Brees was not sacked as the Saints recorded an 86.5 mark during a 42-20 rout of Minnesota on Sunday. With two games to play, Brees is just 304 yards away from Dan Marino's single-season passing record of 5,084 yards set in 1984.