Vic Beasley Jr. had a breakout season in 2016, bursting onto the scene during his second year in the NFL with a league-leading 15.5 sacks. It earned him Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors, and it was supposed to be the magic that the Atlanta Falcons needed to top the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
Super Bowl 2017: Vic Beasley winning the sack crown was supposed to gives the Falcons a win
Only three other players have been to a Super Bowl after leading the NFL in sacks, and all three were on franchises that won it all for the first time.
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Instead, a historic comeback for the Patriots ended a streak of sack leaders helping their teams to a first-ever Super Bowl victory.
Sacks weren’t an official stat in the NFL until 1982. But in the 25 years since, only three players prior to Beasley led the NFL in sacks and made their way to the Super Bowl. All three played for teams that earned their first-ever Super Bowl victory.
First it was Richard Dent of the Chicago Bears in 1985, who had 17 sacks in the third season of his Hall of Fame career and added 1.5 sacks in the Bears’ only Super Bowl victory. Then it was Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants one year later, with 20.5 sacks to help lead the team to its first-ever Super Bowl win.
Kevin Carter’s career didn’t end with an induction to the Hall of Fame, but he helped the St. Louis Rams win a first Super Bowl with 17 sacks in 1999 and a sack in Super Bowl XXXIV.
It looked like fate that the Falcons — one of 13 teams without a Super Bowl victory — could have earned their first with a young pass rusher who led the NFL in sacks. Instead Atlanta extended an MVP curse with Matt Ryan earned the honor Saturday.
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