Inside The Bills

40 sacks a benchmark not often reached

In the NFL 40 sacks in a season for a team is a popular benchmark if you want to be among the top 10 clubs in the league in that category. While defensive coordinators often dismiss team sack totals as an indicator for how effective a team’s pass rush is it’s still interesting to look at some of the Bills’ best seasons in terms of sack totals and see where the team ended up at the end of the year. Here’s a look.

In our Top 25 questions until camp we asked if new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s scheme would lift the Bills up among the league leaders in sacks? Pettine’s defense is known for high pressure and disrupting quarterbacks, but not high sack totals. Here though is the list of the 10-best sack total seasons for the Bills and how those seasons turned out.

Buffalo has reached 40 sacks or more in a season in 14 of their 53 seasons as a franchise.

Year       Sacks     Season outcome
1964       50           Won AFL title
1995       49           Won AFC East, lost in Divisional playoff
1996       48           Lost in Wild Card playoff
1981       47           Lost in Divisional playoff
1988       46           Lost in AFC Championship game
1997       46           Finished 6-10
2004       45           Finished 9-7
1992       44           Lost in Super Bowl XXVII
1990       43           Lost in Super Bowl XXV
1967       43           Finished 4-10
1998       43           Lost in AFC Wild Card