Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto is getting plenty of acclaim for his stellar season, which has him leading the league with eight sacks, but he’s got plenty of company.
So much so that Bonitto and friends are on track to finish with 85 sacks in 17 games, which would shatter the record of 72 in 16 games by the 1984 Chicago Bears, according to a piece written by Michael Davis Smith of Pro Football Talk.
This isn’t a schedule-based record based on 16 versus 17 games, either. The Broncos are averaging five sacks per game, while that Bears team averaged 4.5 sacks over a 16 game schedule. It’s an impressive pace, although it’s important to note that almost a third of the Broncos 30 sacks came against the hapless Jets in London as they put quarterback Justin Fields on the ground a total of nine times.
A couple of other things are noteworthy about this record. Most teams that enter the sacks stratosphere rely on a balanced pass rush that features at least one interior lineman who pushes the pocket and ends up with with impressive sack numbers.
That's not really the Broncos, though. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph sends pressure from everywhere, and the only interior lineman with a sack so far is defensive tackle D.J. Jones, who has one.
Most of the star sack guys for the Broncos are linebackers and edge rushers, but the DBs get in on the act as well. Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillion has 2.5, while safety Talanoa Hufanga also has one, and he could easily have more. Corner and safety blitzes make most defenses vulnerable in today’s NFL, but the Broncos get to the quarterback so quickly as a group that that vulnerability only lasts for a second or two.
The other remarkable thing about the Broncos record-setting sack pace is that it’s coming for a team coached by Sean Payton. Payton’s New Orleans Saints teams specialized in turnover hunting, and other than that they were often “bend but don’t break” units that often relied on quarterback Drew Brees’s ability to win track meet games.
The abundance of fast rushers coming from all sorts of defensive angles would seem to suggest that the Broncos are vulnerable to a ball control, ground-and-pound style of play designed to wear down the defense, but that hasn’t happened yet.
The closest any team has come do doing that was the Indianapolis Colts, who used a 165-yard performance by running back Jonathan Taylor to eke out a 29-28 win. Maintaining a pace of five sacks a game is a Formidable challenge, and it will be interesting to see which offense can come up with a way to knock the Broncos off their game.