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On Thursday night in the Seattle Seahawks game against the Green Bay Packers, Seattle defensive end Frank Clark continued his torrid pace for recording sacks so far in 2018, adding two more to his season total to give him ten sacks in ten games on the season.
It’s doesn’t take a whole lot of math to understand that this puts Clark on a pace equal to exactly a sack per game five eighths of the way through the season, which of course would put him on pace to finish with 16 sacks on the season. If he were to finish with 16 sacks, that would tie him for second in franchise history with Jacob Green’s 1983 season, and just a half a sack shy of the all time single season franchise record of 16.5 sacks set by Michael Sinclair in 1998.
His 2018 season is already in a tie for 20th in franchise history for sacks in a season, and he needs just 1.5 more sacks this season to tie the record for most sacks in a season under head coach Pete Carroll. By getting to 11.5 sacks on the year it would tie him with Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons, who each recorded 11.5 sacks in 2016 and 2012, respectively.
Here is what the top 20 sack totals looks like (though there are actually 24 seasons since there is currently a five-way tie for 20th).
Highest single season sack totals in Seahawks franchise history
| Rk | Player | Year | Sk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Year | Sk |
| 1 | Michael Sinclair | 1998 | 16.5 |
| 2 | Jacob Green | 1983 | 16 |
| 3T | Jeff Bryant | 1984 | 14.5 |
| 3T | Patrick Kerney | 2007 | 14.5 |
| 5 | Cortez Kennedy | 1992 | 14 |
| 6T | Jacob Green | 1985 | 13.5 |
| 6T | Michael McCrary | 1996 | 13.5 |
| 8T | Jacob Green | 1984 | 13 |
| 8T | Michael Sinclair | 1996 | 13 |
| 10 | Jacob Green | 1990 | 12.5 |
| 11T | Jacob Green | 1986 | 12 |
| 11T | Michael Sinclair | 1997 | 12 |
| 13T | Cliff Avril | 2016 | 11.5 |
| 13T | Chris Clemons | 2012 | 11.5 |
| 15T | Chris Clemons | 2010 | 11 |
| 15T | Chris Clemons | 2011 | 11 |
| 15T | John Randle | 2001 | 11 |
| 18T | Randy Edwards | 1985 | 10.5 |
| 18T | Rufus Porter | 1989 | 10.5 |
| 20T | Michael Bennett | 2015 | 10 |
| 20T | Frank Clark | 2016 | 10 |
| 20T | Frank Clark | 2018 | 10 |
| 20T | Julian Peterson | 2006 | 10 |
| 20T | Rufus Porter | 1991 | 10 |
With six games to go, that certainly seems like a record that may be in reach, so let’s take a look at the remaining schedule and see what the realistic chances are for Clark to reach the top of that list. The six remaining games are
- Week 12: Carolina Panthers
- Week 13: San Francisco 49ers
- Week 14: Minnesota Vikings
- Week 15: San Francisco 49ers
- Week 16: Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 17: Arizona Cardinals
How good are each of those teams at protecting their quarterbacks? Well, here’s a look at the sack rate for every team across the NFL, updated through last night’s game.
Sack rate allowed for every team in the NFL
| Rk | Team | Sk%▲ |
|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Sk%▲ |
| 1 | Indianapolis Colts | 2.6 |
| 2 | New Orleans Saints | 2.8 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3.1 |
| 4 | New England Patriots | 4.1 |
| 5 | Baltimore Ravens | 4.2 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Chargers | 4.5 |
| 7 | Kansas City Chiefs | 4.7 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Rams | 5.4 |
| 9 | Carolina Panthers | 5.5 |
| 10 | Chicago Bears | 5.8 |
| 11 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5.8 |
| 12 | Washington Redskins | 5.9 |
| 13 | Cincinnati Bengals | 5.9 |
| 14 | Minnesota Vikings | 6.2 |
| 15 | Atlanta Falcons | 6.3 |
| 16 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6.5 |
| 17 | Denver Broncos | 6.8 |
| 18 | New York Jets | 6.9 |
| 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | 7.4 |
| 20 | Green Bay Packers | 7.5 |
| 21 | Detroit Lions | 7.9 |
| 22 | Miami Dolphis | 8 |
| 23 | Oakland Raiders | 8.2 |
| 24 | New York Giants | 8.4 |
| 25 | Arizona Cardinals | 8.6 |
| 26 | Cleveland Browns | 8.6 |
| 27 | San Francisco 49ers | 8.9 |
| 28 | Houston Texans | 9.5 |
| 29 | Buffalo Bills | 9.7 |
| 30 | Tennessee Titans | 10 |
| 31 | Seattle Seahawks | 10.3 |
| 32 | Dallas Cowboys | 10.5 |
So, while the Hawks play the Panthers, Chiefs and Vikings, who are all in the top half of the league in not letting their quarterback get sacked. However, he gets to face off against the Cardinals and 49ers in half of his remaining games, and both of those teams are in the bottom quarter of the league, coming in at 25th and 27th worst sack rates in the entire NFL.
In short, this is something I’ll most certainly be watching, because Clark definitely has a shot to reach this record if he can stay healthy.