Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Khalil Mack had the best game of his career against his former team
Due to a concussion suffered by starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the Las Vegas Raiders turned to rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell to make his first NFL start.
In the nights ahead, O’Connell will likely see visions of the Los Angeles Chargers pass rush in his nightmares.
Leading the charge? Former Raider Khalil Mack. Mack led a one-man assault on not just the rookie quarterback, but the NFL record books. The pass rusher tallied a whopping five sacks in the first half alone, recording that sixth sack early in the third quarter:
What is notable about this play is how wide Mack goes to get a jam on Josh Jacobs, trying to prevent the running back from getting a clean release into his route. That takes Mack well outside the pocket:
But he is able to close the gap in a hurry, cleaning up the initial pressure created by Nick Williams and Sebastian Joseph-Day for the sack.
That fifth sack put Mack in some rather elite company. Sunday was the second game in his career with at least five sacks, the first coming back in 2014 when he was with the Raiders. That made him just the second player with five sacks in two different NFL games dating back to 1982, when sacks became an official stat.
The other?
Derrick Thomas:
This marks Khalil Mack’s 2nd career game with 5 sacks, also accomplishing the feat in Week 14, 2015 with the Raiders.
He joins @ProFootballHOF Derrick Thomas as the only players with multiple 5-sack games since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. https://t.co/Szkel2dPtz
— NFL345 (@NFL345) October 1, 2023
However, Mack was not done chasing Thomas, and history. Because early in the fourth quarter, he notched his sixth:
Mack uses an inside-out move on right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, faking hard to the inside before exploding by him on the outside, getting to O’Connell for his sixth sack of the game.
That put Mack into another rare group, the list of players with six sacks or more in a single game. The other members? Fred Dean, Osi Umenyiora, Adrian Clayborn, and Derrick Thomas, who accomplished that twice. Thomas notched six sacks for a game for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Raiders back in 1998.
But Thomas also holds the single-game record with seven, which he set back in November of 1990 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Ultimately, Mack fell short of that record, and the pass rusher had to settle for “just” six sacks on the afternoon. But six sacks, coupled with a hard-fought win over a division rival?
That makes for a pretty good day.
