Super Bowl Record for Sacks in One Game? Still L.C. Greenwood—Kind Of

PERSPECTIVE

By John Turney

Credit: Denny Karchner

Von Miller, MVP of Super Bowl 50, had 2.5 sacks and was a dominant force in that game. Carolina Panther pass rusher Kony Ealy topped that with 3 sacks, a mark that tied the post-1982 record help by Reggie White and Darnell Dockett.

However, we offer that L.C. Greenwood still holds the record with the four takedowns of Roger Staubach in Super Bowl X.

In reviewing the Official NFL play-by-play it's plain to see (albeit a bit light on the typewriter ribbon) the scoring. At the end of the play-by-play, in what is called the tackle chart, Greenwood was shorted one sack, which in the text of the play-by-play is credited to Greenwood, so there is a small bit of a curiosity.

Here are the texts for the four plays in question:

Sack one:


Sack two:

Sack three:

Sack four:

Added to which  here is the video for all four sacks:

Credit: CBS, Fair use, offered for criticism and education

Note that "sack two" should have been credited to Dwight White, not Greenwood. It is hard to see but the right end got the sack, not the left end. On the right side of the defensive line the Steelers ran a "Tex" game with the tackle going first, exchanging lanes with the end, and on the left side it was an "Exit" game with LC Greenwood going first and Joe Greene going second. All four got good pressure but Staubach had to hold the ball and White came in from the middle and got Staubach down.

Greenwood was an excellent player and this is, perhaps, his crowning jewel even if it was three sacks rather than four. Not all the sacks are "pure sacks" there is a mix of coverage and Staubach scrambling around, but those things still happen post-1982.  

So here is to L.C. and his initials that do not stand for anything, it's just L.C.