By John Turney 
When Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack sacked Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O'Connell for the sixth time broke the team record for sacks in a game which was officially held by Leslie O'Neal.
On November 16, 1986, O'Neal's rookie season and his eleventh career game, he sacked Steve Pelluer five times in a 24-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, Pelluer endured twelve sacks by the Chargers defense that day and it's amazing he was able, with the help of a blocked punt, to pull out a victory for the Cowboys.
That was the official record until today.
However, the Chargers had another five-sack game in their history prior to O'Neal's.
It happened before sacks became official—prior to 1982 when the stat became official for individuals—and it was by defensive tackle Ernie Ladd.
On September 30, 1962, the 6-9, 300-pound (at least) Ladd took down Cotton Davidson three times and his backup Chon Gallegos twice. In that game the Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders 42-33 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland.
Today's game makes Mack only the second player with two five-sack games in the official sack era. He had a five-sack game against the Broncos in 2015. Of course, he shares that Record with Derrick Thomas.
And again, for the official sack era, he's the fifth player to record six sacks in a game. Thomas with his two games plus Adrian Clayborn, Osi Umenyiora and Fred Dean who all accomplished the feat.
Mack was probably the biggest contributor the the Chargers' 24-17 win over the Raiders so it was not an empty stat. Late in the game, when the Raiders were driving for a potential game-tying score he had another splash play, defecting a pass.
The six quarterback takedowns are the fist of the 2023 season for the former Raiders' 2014 first-round pick and pushed his career total to just past 90.
It was quite the day for the guy who is beginning his tenth NFL season.
So Big Cat had 5 in a game? Good for a huge dude who was a wrestler
ReplyDeleteFrom Brian wolf ...
ReplyDeleteMack may already have gotten his HOF jacket sized had he stayed with the Raiders but the world turns ... imagine he and Crosby going after the passer?
Great tribute to Russ Francis, John. Your passion for him as a player is similar to mine for Mark Bavaro ... both tough, blocker-catchers who were on championship teams.
Though I disagree on Gonzalez or Kelce being considered the greatest tight end. Maybe I just didnt see Gonzalez block enough but they are both big wide receivers to me, like Vernon Davis or Jimmy Graham. Gronk checks the boxes, though I felt he got away with alot of things, including pushing off but also took alot of hits from defenders that Kelce never hardly encounters. Yes, Kelce can run good routes but its obscene the way defenders let him get clean releases off the line of scrimmage. As Hank Stram would say, "Its like stealing'' ...
Though I feel Dave Casper is the best, Gronk helping two teams win championships gives him the moniker for most people.