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While there are obviously plenty of playoff seeding-related reasons for wanting the Eagles to pressure Andy Dalton or Jameis Winston into multiple sacks on Sunday, there are also a few team and NFL record-related reasons to cheer for Eagles sacks against the Saints.
On the year, the Eagles have recorded 61.0 sacks as a team. The franchise record for sacks in a season just so happens to be 62.0, set by the 1989 defense which featured Clyde Simmons, Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner, and a dude named Reggie White. With an extra game on the schedule this year, a couple of other records are within reach for the Birds too.
The most sacks an NFC East team has ever had in one season is 68.0, done by the New York Giants in 1985 with Lawrence Taylor and Leonard Marshall leading the way. While extremely unlikely, the single-season team sack record is on the table for Philadelphia. The 1984 Chicago Bears, led by Richard Dent, Steve McMichael, Dan Hampton, and Mike Singletary, racked up an eye-popping 72.0 sacks in one season and have held the record ever since.
The Birds are averaging 4.07 sacks per game this year and currently have three players with double digit QB takedowns:
- Haason Reddick, 14.0
- Josh Sweat, 11.0
- Javon Hargrave, 10.0
There are only a pair of other teams this season who even have two players with 10 or more sacks (Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots) and the Eagles are the first team with a trio of double-digit sack masters since the 2014 Buffalo Bills.
With 1 more sack, Brandon Graham would reach 10 for the first time in his career and the Eagles would become the first team in NFL history with 4 double-digit sack players. pic.twitter.com/9OvKHk6rQJ
— Shane Haff (@HAFFnHAFF_TPL) December 28, 2022
As Shane notes in the tweet above, if Brandon Graham (9.0 sacks currently) takes down Dalton once on Sunday he’ll join the Double Digit Gang and make the 2022 Eagles the first team in NFL history to have four players reach 10+ sacks in a season.
According to Reuben Frank at NBC Sports Philly, only two other teams have had four players with 9.0 sacks or more in a season, the 1989 Vikings (Chris Doleman 21.0, Keith Millard 18.0, Al Noga 11.5, Henry Thomas 9.0) and the 2006 Ravens (Trevor Pryce 13.0, Adalius Thomas 11.0, Bart Scott 9.5, Terrell Suggs 9.5).
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