Jaguars are sacking opposing quarterbacks at a record-breaking pace

The Jacksonville Jaguars sacked Jacoby Brissett 10 times in Week 7, tying a franchise record that was set in Week 1. The 27-0 shutout win over the Indianapolis Colts improved the Jaguars to 4-3 and upped their sack total to 33 on the year.

The Carolina Panthers are next best team in that category with 24 sacks.

But the Jaguars aren’t just on pace to lead the NFL — they’re sacking quarterbacks at a faster pace than any team in NFL history. The season record belongs to the 1984 Chicago Bears, which brought down opposing quarterbacks 72 times during a 10-6 season that ended in the NFC Championship.

With 33 sacks in seven games, the Jaguars are on pace for about 75 sacks.

Of course, that number is bolstered by 20 sacks in two games, while the team has just 13 in its other five. But the 1984 Bears had similar explosions, with nine-, 11- and 12-sack games and eight matchups with three sacks or fewer.

Only the 1967 Raiders, 1984 Bears, and 2017 Jaguars have ever had two double-digit sack games in a season. Jacksonville is the first team to do it twice in the first seven weeks.

At the heart of the pass rush is former Arizona Cardinals star Calais Campbell, who already has a career-high 10 sacks with the team he signed a four-year, $60 million contract with in the offseason. With just two more, he’ll tie the Jaguars franchise record of 12 held by Tony Brackens.

But the real reason for the Jaguars’ ridiculous pressure on opposing quarterbacks may be their lockdown secondary. Neither Jalen Ramsey nor A.J. Bouye has allowed a touchdown yet in 2017, and both are shutting down every receiver they face:

For perspective, a quarterback’s passer rating if every single pass falls incomplete is 39.6. So spiking the football on every play has been about as effective as throwing to a receiver covered by Bouye or Ramsey.

That has left few receivers for quarterbacks to throw to and a little extra time for players like Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler to get into the backfield.

Jacksonville’s problems are inconsistency on offense and struggles to stop the run. Those are issues that the Jaguars will have to continue to try to address after a Week 8 bye. But any team that tries to pass against them is playing with fire.