Chandler Jones sets Cardinals single season sack record vs. Seahawks
Dec 31, 2017, 4:30 PM | Updated: 6:32 pm
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) protects the football as he is sacked by Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Chandler Jones, right, in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
(AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Outside linebacker Chandler Jones set the Arizona Cardinals’ franchise record for sacks in a single season with his second takedown of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on Sunday during the 2017 finale.
“I thought they were going to slide away from me but they slid to me, and kind of just kept working,” Jones told 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Paul Calvisi. “I grabbed his legs and tripped him up and it was a sack on the stat sheet.
“A quarterback like Russell, you have to know how to rush him. Sometimes he’ll escape B-gaps, he’ll run the edges on you, so you just got to keep your eyes on him.”
Before the 26-24 Cardinals win, Jones entered the day with 15.0 sacks this year and needed 2.0 to surpass Simeon Rice’s record of 16.5 set in 1999.
Since 2013, Jones has 16 games of multi-sack performances, a total that ties Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt for the most over that span.
The performance in Seattle on Sunday comes after Jones failed to record a sack in Arizona’s Week 16 victory over the New York Giants. That was his third game of the year without a sack.
How was he so consistent?
“Just film study, honestly,” Jones told Calvisi.
Entering Week 17, Jones led the NFL with 15.0 sacks, 0.5 more than the next two most productive players: Jones’ former Arizona teammate and current Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell, and Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
Jones also had a league-leading 25 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and three passes defensed this season.
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