INDIANAPOLIS — Colts defensive end Kwity Paye doesn’t always get the job done in the prettiest way.
Paye is not blinding offensive tackles off the edge with his speed on half the plays, spinning into the pocket on half the others, racking up pressures as he gets into the quarterback’s face all day long.
But he is almost always there, refusing to give up on the play, ready and waiting.
Waiting for a moment like the final drive of Sunday’s 28-27 win over the Jets. Paye sacked Aaron Rodgers twice in three plays on New York’s last-ditch attempt to get into range for a potential game-winning field goal, ending the game in signature fashion.
“What I’ve noticed, too, on those plays is d-linemen, they usually just try to keep the quarterback in the pocket; I feel like the o-lineman kind of feel the same way,” Paye said. “I was just like: ‘No, I’m going to go all out on this last play.’”
Paye is almost always going all-out, producing a rare pass-rush profile that is sometimes hard to properly evaluate.
The fourth-year defensive end is not a dominant force off the edge.
Despite his best efforts to develop into a speed rusher during his first three years as a Colt, the Michigan product hasn’t developed into a “force player,” the kind who spends all day in the quarterback’s lap. Paye ranks third on the team with 19 pressures, trailing Dayo Odeyingbo (32) and rookie Laiatu Latu (26) while defensive tackle DeForest Buckner roars from behind after missing five games due to a high ankle sprain.
But Paye leads the team with 5.5 sacks, giving him 24 for his career and easily putting him on pace for his third consecutive season with at least six sacks, in large part because he never gives up on a play.
“Many sacks in the NFL do come from second effort,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “If you don’t beat him the first time, it’s that mindset to keep going.”
A high motor certainly plays a role in Paye’s pass rush.
There is also a method behind the madness.
Bradley has long preached the virtues of the second-effort sack, putting together a study one offseason that aimed to put a percentage on how many sacks fell into that category and pointing out that sacks from second effort count the same on the stat sheet.
Paye has taken those words to heart. Part of his plan to rush the passer off the edge is taking a quarterback’s escape routes into account.
“I like to rush high and then retrace,” Paye said. “Rush high, force the quarterback to see me outside and then step up into the ‘B’ gap.”
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Exactly the spot Rodgers has used as an escape route throughout a legendary career with Green Bay and a less-legendary finishing stretch in New York.
The Colts knew. Indianapolis spent last week studying the escape routes Rodgers likes to use most, a practice that isn’t unique to the Jets quarterback. Every week, senior defensive line assistant Matt Raich and Tony Dungy Diversity Fellow Kalon Humphries put together a detailed portfolio of the opposing quarterback’s scrambling tendencies.
“We’ll put a chart up there like, ‘Oh, he escapes 20 times to right, up the middle, or he loves to spin out,’” Paye said. “Definitely helps us in our pass rush, because then we know what moves we can do and what moves we can’t do.”
Paye sometimes uses the scouting report to be his eyes in the crowded, chaotic world of a collapsing pocket, and sometimes he uses the information to plot a course to intercept a scrambling quarterback.
When the Jets took over with 46 seconds remaining on Sunday, Paye knew where Rodgers was going to look to scramble.
“He was escaping through the ‘B’ gap all game,” Paye said. “I (knew I was) going to be able to retrace back to the ‘B’ gap and steal one.”
Paye got his opportunity on the first play of the drive.
New York chipped him with a tight end, delaying Paye’s rush as Odeyingbo sliced past a guard into the middle of the pocket and Latu roared around the opposite edge, leaving what looked like a lot of green for Rodgers to operate.
Except that Paye knew where Rodgers was heading, and once he cleared the tight end, Paye started bending back to the line of scrimmage. Rodgers clearly didn’t think he’d be there, tried to improvise a one-handed pitch and Paye slammed into his arm, turning the pitch into a fumble.
One play later, he had a chance to apply another lesson, this time gleaned from missed opportunities against Buffalo the week before. Paye often stabs with his inside arm in a long-arm move as he tries to get up the field, and Buffalo took advantage of the move.
“When I was placing my stab in there to do that move, my arm was getting trapped, so I was falling down,” Paye said. “This week, I made sure I grabbed cloth on the inside pad, and then when you try to trap me … when you trap as an o-lineman, you’re giving up.”
Paye’s game-ending sack wasn’t a second effort.
Not really. Paye’s long-arm drove New York right tackle Morgan Moses up the field, created space away from right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and essentially turned a double team into a one-on-one with the possibility of a chip.
Paye won right away, pushing Moses like the lineman was on a sled, knowing Rodgers would feel the pressure and try to get back to his escape route.
A route Paye was closing with the way he turned the corner at the top of his rush.
“He’s such a valuable member of our unit,” Bradley said. “I mean, he’s strong, he’s tough, but he plays with great effort.”
And great intelligence.
A combination that allows Paye to find other ways to win.
