Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked seven times in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, giving him 26 sacks through five games this season. And that puts him on pace to break one of the NFL’s most dubious records.
Watson is on pace to take 88 sacks in 17 games, which would break the record set by David Carr of the expansion Texans in 2002. Carr was sacked 76 times that year, and that has been the record ever since.
Watson has lost 154 yards on his sacks, which also puts him on pace for an inauspicious NFL record: If Watson continues at his current pace for 17 games, he’ll finish the season having lost 524 yards on sacks. The record is 489 yards lost on sacks, set by Randall Cunningham in 1986.
Some will blame the Browns’ offensive line for Watson’s sacks, but sacks generally reflect more on a quarterback’s inability to recognize the pass rush and get rid of the ball quickly than on an offensive line’s inability to protect him. Watson deserves most of the blame.
Even when Watson was playing well earlier in his career, taking too many sacks was a problem: He was a Pro Bowler for the Texans in 2018, but he led the league that year with 62 sacks and 384 yards lost.
Will Watson actually break the records set by Carr and Cunningham? He probably won’t, for the simple reason that if he doesn’t do a better job of avoiding sacks, he probably won’t play 17 games.