Arizona Cardinal hoping to shatter all-time sack records

Arizona Cardinals pass-rusher Chandler Jones is on a mission to obliterate a pair of long-standing quarterback sack records

Chandler Jones of the Arizona Cardinals is having quite a year. Last Sunday, the club’s ultra-talented edge rusher registered an outstanding four quarterback sacks during a victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Jones now has 19 this fall, a figure that just happens to be the highest single-season total ever for a Cardinals defender.

With that franchise record firmly in his back pocket, the sensational Jones can now set his sights on another one. There’s just one game remaining in the current campaign, however, so the 29-year old may have to wait until 2020 to accomplish his next organizational feat.

Jones is currently 6.5 sacks short of the Cards all-time mark. The team’s long-time leader in that department, Freddie Joe Nunn, racked up 66.5 signal-caller takedowns during his nine seasons with Big Red. It should be noted that it took Nunn 131 contests to get to his number, while Jones has already generated 60 sacks in just 63 matchups.

Nunn wreaked havoc for the squad from 1985-93, when they were known as the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals. The former number-one pick played his college ball at the University of Mississippi, and was the 18th-overall selection of the “85 draft. Like Jones, Nunn started his career as a defensive end and switched to outside linebacker later on.

Jones, obtained three years ago in a trade with the New England Patriots, is arguably general manager Steve Keim’s greatest acquisition. The Syracuse University product has represented Arizona twice in the Pro Bowl (2017, 2019) since he came to the desert back in 2016. Jones was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for his dominant performance last weekend against Seattle, the second time he has received that award in ’19.

There’s also a league record that Jones has an opportunity to shatter this coming Sunday. The 21st-overall choice of the 2012 draft is just 3.5 sacks short of the NFL’s all-time single-season mark. That honor presently belongs to Michael Strahan, who tallied 22.5 sacks for the New York Giants back in 2001.

It seems likely that Jones will eventually overtake Nunn as the top pass-rusher in Cards history. That would be quite an achievement for a defender who’s been with the franchise for such a short amount of time. For now, let’s wish Jones all of the luck in the world when he attempts to break Strahan’s long-standing sack record this weekend.