The Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett had a career day with 3.5 sacks in their second win of the season on Sunday afternoon. In doing so, he overtook the league lead, though it didn’t last for long. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt reclaimed his outright lead, passing not only Garrett but also the Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter, with whom he entered the weekend tied with four.
Hunter had one on the day. Watt had more than that. In fact, with his second sack of the night, he not only set a new Steelers all-time record for the most sacks through three games in a season—he also surpassed his entire sack total from last season.
The latter statistic obviously comes with quite a sizeable caveat, as he missed seven games of the 2022 season and only played the majority of one game close to full health. He already had some bumps and bruises from the preseason but suffered a pectoral injury late in regulation of the season opener.
By then he only recorded one sack, and he did not play again until after the bye week. He was clearly not the same player when he did return, especially early on, though he began to regain his form as he continued to play.
His 5.5-sack total that he finished the year with was the lowest of his career, even going back to his rookie season when he posted seven. Yet he was still voted into the Pro Bowl. While he surely got a boost due to his reputation, it was perhaps also a reflection of how much the defense struggled to keep it together without him.
Prior to Sunday night’s game, the Steelers’ record holder for the most sacks to begin a season through three games was Edmund Nelson, who recorded five in that span during the 1984 season. He finished the year with seven.
The runner-up had been Chad Brown all on his own with 4.5 sacks in 1995, but Alex Highsmith matched that total just last season, benefitting from a three-sack effort in the season opener against the Browns as Watt benefitted with a three-sack game in this year’s opener.
Only Watt and Keith Gary in 1983—the only other Steelers defensive lineman to record multiple double-digit-sack seasons besides Cameron Heyward—had recorded at least four sacks through three games in franchise history.
In terms of NFL history, however, Watt’s six sacks just miss the top 10. Mark Gastineau in 1984 and Shaquil Barrett in 2019 hold the record with eight sacks through three games. William Gay of the Detroit Lions in 1983 and Justin Houston in 2013 recorded 7.5. Several others, including Kevin Greene as a Panther in 1998, recorded 6.5 or 7 sacks in three games.
He is the 25th player in NFL history to record at least six sacks in his first three games. Only two players in NFL history have done it twice: Clay Matthews and Michael Sinclair. Gastineau set what was at the time the single-season sack record in 1984 when he began the season with eight sacks through three games. Barrett had 19.5. Houston only had 11 but recorded 22 the next year.
Many names on the list did not go on to have a particularly notable season. But I don’t suspect that will be the case for Watt, who should make a run at his second Defensive Player of the Year Award. The last time he was healthy, he tied the NFL single-season sack record, and he looks mighty healthy this year.
