STALKING 4 MORE QBS
Cardinals’ Suggs in hunt for sack mark
It was Sept. 5, 1993, and Bledsoe, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that year, was warming up for his very first game at what then was known as Rich Stadium, home to the Buffalo Bills.
Bledsoe happened to glance at the tunnel leading to both teams’ locker rooms when he spotted a menacinglooking 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive end emerging from the darkness. It was the Bills’ Bruce Smith, the most feared pass rusher in the league and, as the story goes, the baddest man on the planet.
“I almost peed my pants a little bit,” Bledsoe said.
NFL quarterbacks have had similar moments of discontent every time they look up and see Terrell Suggs getting ready to bear down on them.
The Cardinals outside linebacker, now in his 17th season, is the league’s active career sacks leader with 1361⁄2. He may never reach Smith’s all-time record of 200 career sacks, but Suggs, who ranks 11th overall, is in position to do something just as remarkable.
Suggs has sacked 74 different quarterbacks.
If he can get his hands on just four more, according to numbers furnished to The Republic by Elias Sports Bureau, he’ll have the record for most quarterbacks sacked in NFL history. Half sacks count, and Smith finished his Hall of Fame career with 76, according to Elias. Julius Peppers and the late Reggie White have the most with 77.
“I didn’t know that,” Suggs said. “I didn’t even know I’ve sacked 74 different guys. That seems like a lot. How do you all come up with all these random stats, anyway?”
The better question is, how does a guy like Suggs rack up so many sacks against so many different quarterbacks?
“I think it’s really impressive, but it just speaks to his longevity and the success he’s had in the league,” Cardinals defensive lineman Corey Peters said. “Regardless of who he’s playing, I think that’s kind of amazing, to be honest. I mean, that’s a lot of different guys.”
There’s a chance Suggs can topple the record for the number of different quarterbacks sacked in just the next four weeks.
That’s because in the Cardinals’ next four games, he could be facing four quarterbacks he’s never sacked before. The string starts this Sunday in New Jersey when Suggs gets his first look at Giants rookie Daniel Jones. After that, it could very well be Teddy Bridgewater, who’s still filling in for the injured Drew Brees in New Orleans.
If Suggs were to managed even a partial sack of Jones and Bridgewater, he would be in search of his 77th and 78th victims — and thus a new NFL record — when he and the Cardinals meet the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo on Halloween night in Glendale and then the Buccaneers’ Jameis Winston on Nov. 10 in Tampa.
It’s fresh meat and Suggs can smell it. “I wasn’t aware of all that, but hopefully, it’s a good opportunity,” he said. “All I know is sacks don’t feel as good if you’re not winning. Sacks taste a lot better after you win. You get those and you’re winning … that’s when they feel good.”
If he can’t get his hands on Garoppolo, Suggs will have at least four other opportunities to add to his multi-wrecking quarterback totals. He’ll face Garoppolo and the 49ers again on Nov. 17, get two games to sack the Rams’ Jared Goff on Dec. 1 and Dec. 29, and is sure to face another quarterback he’s never sacked before when the Cardinals host the Steelers on Dec. 8.
Ben Roethlisberger, whom Suggs has sacked more than any quarterback (12 times), is out for the season following elbow surgery.
Backup Mason Rudolph missed last week’s game with a concussion and Pittsburgh was forced to start undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges instead.
Surely, there’s enough new faces in there somewhere for Suggs to chase history.
“When you’re T-Sizzle, you can do stuff like that,” Cardinals fellow outside linebacker Chandler Jones said. “I can’t even imagine sacking 74 different quarterbacks, let alone getting 78 or 80. That’s huge. That’s major. But that’s Terrell Suggs.”
Happy hunting, Terrell.
Things I liked in Week 6
❚ That the 49ers (5-0), one of only two undefeated teams in the league along with the Patriots (6-0), have convinced me now that they are for real and not just pretenders. San Francisco’s defense is simply dominating, and it should be no surprise to anyone that the top-two ranked defensive units in the league (the 49ers and Patriots) have spotless records.
In their 20-7 victory over the Rams, they held Los Angeles to just 165 total yards, the fewest by the Rams since they were held to 123 total yards in Week 17 of the 2016 season against the Cardinals. The 49ers also prevented the Rams from any conversions on third (0-9) and fourth down (0-4), the first time they’ve done that in a game since 1988 at the Rams. San Francisco is on pace to allow just 2,403 yards passing, which would be the fewest by any defense in 37 years.
“I’m very happy with how we played,” coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday. “... Our defense played at an extremely high level. … We can continue to get better on offense, we can continue to get better on special teams and I also think our defense is just getting started, too.”
❚ Watching Mason Crosby kick the game-winning field goal Monday night after remembering the agony of him missing four field goals in a loss to the Lions last season. More on this game later.
❚ That Stefon Diggs will be happy again in Minnesota after catching seven passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in an impressive win over the Eagles. Diggs was disgruntled with his diminishing role, but that should change after this game.
“I think it will help his confidence,” coach Mike Zimmer told reporters. “As long as he stays disciplined in his route-running and all those things, he’ll continue to get a lot of balls.”
Things I didn’t
❚ People hounding the Dolphins’ Kenyan Drake for dropping Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pass on a two-point conversion try with six seconds left to play against the Redskins. Even if Drake caught the ball, it was doubtful he could have made it into the end zone with so many Washington defenders closing in on him.
❚ The two fourth-quarter phantom illegal hands to the face calls on Detroit’s Trey Flowers on Monday night. Both happened on third down and allowed the Packers to extend scoring drives that ultimately beat the Lions. Flowers had a right to be disgusted by the calls. His hands were high to the chest, just below the neck and never to the face of a Packers offensive lineman.
Even former Lions running back
Barry Sanders couldn’t believe his eyes.
“That is sickening,” Sanders said via Twitter of the two calls on Flowers. “The @NFL needs to look at a way to prevent that from happening.”
❚ That the season is likely over for Seahawks tight end Will Dissly after he suffered an Achilles injury in a victory over the Browns. Dissly saw his rookie season end a year ago due to a knee injury.