Michael Strahan’s sack record has stood for nearly two decades, but Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones is determined to make it fall in 2020.
So long as the league is able to play 16 games amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 30-year-old Jones is confident he can eclipse 22.5 sacks, officially putting an end to Strahan’s reign of dominance.
“I feel like I’m getting closer and closer,” Jones said during an interview on Thursday, via azcardinals.com. “I don’t feel older. I had a pretty decent year last year, and I feel even better with this time off, my body got some time to rest. Why not? Why can’t I break the record?”
Jones is not the first to eye Strahan’s sack record. In fact, it’s become an annual target for elite-level NFL edge rushers, but to date, only a precious few have even sniffed the record.
Jared Allen recorded 22 sacks in 2011, which Justin Houston matched in 2014. In 2018, Aaron Donald recorded 20.5, which was the highest tally since Houston’s total four years earlier.
Jones got within shouting distance a season ago, finishing the 2019 season with a career-high 19 sacks. His previous high at 17 game in 2017.
“Where I am right now in my career, I definitely feel I have mastered the art of pass rush,” Jones said. “Half of the battle is just having confidence, knowing no one can block you. You can say it out loud or say it to yourself. Each and every week, I feel no one in the NFL can block me.”
Jones isn’t alone, however. Atlanta Falcons defensive end Dante Fowler also said he intends to break Strahan’s sack record here in 2020.
“I have a lot to prove … you guys haven’t seen nothing yet,” Fowler said in April, via the team’s official website. “In order to be the best edge rusher in the league, you have to put up double-digits [sacks] every year. That’s my job, that’s my goal to be consistent every year come out with double digits. This year was 11.5, I want to have more than 11.5-12.5 every year.
“The goal is to break Michael Strahan’s record. That’s the goal. You have to put a lot of work in, though.”
The race may be on to break Strahan’s long-standing sack record, but it’s so much easier said than done. And if we were betting folks, we’d put money on the record remaining in place going into 2021.
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