NFL Sack Records—and Why the Official History Starts in 1982
Bruce Smith owns the career sack record, Myles Garrett the season mark and Derrick Thomas the game record—but pre-1982 totals need context.
Myles Garrett’s 23rd sack of 2025 did more than change the NFL’s single-season record. It brought the official record book level with a performance from 1978 that the league still treats as unofficial.
That distinction is essential to understanding NFL sack records. Individual sacks became an official league statistic only in 1982. Earlier pass rushers certainly brought down quarterbacks, but their totals were reconstructed later rather than entered in the contemporary official ledger. The NFL’s 2026 Record & Fact Book therefore says sacks have been compiled since 1982.
The records below cover the completed 2025 season; in-progress 2026 totals are excluded.
NFL sack records at a glance
| Category | Record holder | Sacks | When | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | Bruce Smith | 200 | 1985–2003 | Official regular season |
| Single season | Myles Garrett | 23 | 2025 | Official regular season |
| Single game | Derrick Thomas | 7 | Nov. 11, 1990 | Official regular season |
| Postseason career | Willie McGinest | 16 | 18 playoff games | Official postseason |
| Single postseason | Richard Dent, Michael McCrary and LaMarr Woodley | 6 each | 1985, 2000 and 2008 seasons | Official postseason |
| Team, single season | 1984 Chicago Bears | 72 | 1984 | Regular season |
Regular-season and postseason sacks are separate categories. Adding playoff sacks to a player’s regular-season total does not create the NFL career record.
Bruce Smith holds the career record with 200 sacks
Bruce Smith recorded 200 regular-season sacks over 19 seasons with Buffalo and Washington. Of those, 171 came during his 15 years with the Bills, according to the Buffalo Bills’ account of his career.
The top five official career totals are:
- Bruce Smith — 200
- Reggie White — 198
- Kevin Greene — 160
- Julius Peppers — 159.5
- Chris Doleman — 150.5
Those standings appear on the official-era career leaderboard. Smith and White are separated by only two sacks; the gap from White to Greene is 38.
Smith also leads the combined leaderboard when researched totals back to 1960 are included. The biggest change near the top is the arrival of Deacon Jones in third place with 173.5 reconstructed sacks.
Myles Garrett set the season record with 23 in 2025
Garrett reached 23 sacks in the Browns’ final game of the 2025 season, passing Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Strahan had established the previous record with 22.5 in 2001, and Watt matched it in 2021. The NFL record book lists the new order, while the Browns’ record page preserves the final sack and the season’s progression.
| Player | Sacks | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Myles Garrett | 23 | 2025 |
| Michael Strahan | 22.5 | 2001 |
| T.J. Watt | 22.5 | 2021 |
| Mark Gastineau | 22 | 1984 |
| Jared Allen | 22 | 2011 |
| Justin Houston | 22 | 2014 |
Schedule length matters when comparing those seasons. The NFL moved from 14 games to 16 in 1978 and to 17 in 2021, so equal totals may have been produced with different numbers of available games. Our history of American football and NFL schedule lengths supplies the broader chronology.
Garrett’s 23 is the official record, but it is not the first known 23-sack season.
Al Baker’s 23 sacks explain the “unofficial” label
Detroit Lions rookie Al “Bubba” Baker was credited retrospectively with 23 sacks in 1978. Because the season came four years before individual sacks became official, the NFL did not recognize Baker as the official record holder. Before Garrett’s 2025 season, that produced the awkward pairing of a 22.5 official record and a 23-sack unofficial high; NFL.com described that distinction during Garrett’s pursuit.
Garrett now stands alone in the official book and level with Baker on the combined leaderboard back to 1960. The single-season leaderboard places both at 23 while labeling Baker’s pre-1982 figure unofficial.
Other reconstructed seasons alter the historical picture. Deacon Jones is credited with 22 sacks in both 1964 and 1968, plus 21.5 in 1967. Coy Bacon had 21.5 in 1976, and Joe Klecko had 20.5 in 1981.
Researchers John Turney and Nick Webster compiled the pre-1982 figures from official play-by-plays, game film, photographs and coaches’ statistics. Sports Reference says their work accounts for 99% of sacks from the 1970 merger through 1981, with coverage falling to about 95% for 1966–69, 80% for 1961–64 and two-thirds for 1960. It labels the totals unofficial and notes that they can change as more evidence is found (Sports Reference’s methodology).
That work gives Jones 173.5 career sacks, Jack Youngblood 151.5 and Alan Page 148.5. It also credits Lawrence Taylor with 9.5 sacks in his 1981 rookie season. Added to his official total of 132.5 from 1982 onward, that produces a combined figure of 142.
The cleanest historical wording is precise rather than dismissive: Bruce Smith has the official NFL career record; Myles Garrett has the official single-season record; reconstructed pre-1982 totals provide a broader but unofficial comparison.
Derrick Thomas owns the single-game record
Derrick Thomas sacked Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg seven times for Kansas City on November 11, 1990. No player has matched the total. Both the NFL record book and the official-era single-game leaderboard list Thomas first, followed by several six-sack performances.
Thomas came close to an eighth. On Seattle’s final play, Krieg escaped his rush and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Paul Skansi for a 17–16 Seahawks victory. A Seattle Times account published the following year described the escape, the catch and Thomas’s seven-sack record. His dominant individual performance therefore came in a Chiefs loss.
Playoff sack records are counted separately
Willie McGinest leads the official postseason career list with 16 sacks in 18 games. Bruce Smith is second with 14.5, and Frank Clark is third with 13.5, according to both the NFL record book and the postseason career leaderboard.
The record for one complete postseason is six sacks, shared by:
- Richard Dent for the 1985 Bears
- Michael McCrary for the 2000 Ravens
- LaMarr Woodley for the 2008 Steelers
All three played for the eventual Super Bowl champion. The single-postseason table treats each playoff run as its own category rather than folding those sacks into regular-season totals.
The team season record remains 72
The 1984 Chicago Bears accumulated 72 sacks in a 16-game regular season. That remains the team record; NFL.com compared it with Denver’s 68 sacks in 2025.
The mark belongs to the season before Chicago’s celebrated 1985 championship defense. Buddy Ryan’s pass rush had therefore reached a statistical extreme before the Super Bowl run that made the unit famous.
For any sack claim, four labels prevent most confusion: player or team, regular season or postseason, career or single period, and official post-1981 data or reconstructed earlier totals. Without them, two accurate leaderboards can appear to contradict each other.