BY THE NUMBERS Sacks (Fastest to 50)
The late Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas was 25 years and 291 days old when he reached 50 sacks faster than any other player since the league began recognizing sacks as an official statistic in 1982.
That mark stood from 1993 until 2014, when three-time Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt dropped a QB for the 50th time at 25 years and 260 days of age.
A year later, St. Louis Rams defensive end Robert Quinn lowered that mark to 25 years and 167 days.
Sunday at Kansas City, Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter will be 25 years and five days old. His 48 sacks are a record since 1982 for a player under 25. That means he’ll have 161 days beginning Sunday to bag two more QBs and set a new fastest-to-50 mark.
Quinn, still active at 29, has had 25 more sacks since setting the current record. Watt, who is on Houston’s injured reserve, has 96 sacks.
Thomas was 33 when he played his 11th season in 1999. He had seven sacks in 16 games that year. He died a month later after being in a car accident.
Thomas finished with 126½ sacks, good for 17th on the list that began in 1982.
Hunter’s eight sacks this season are good for fourth place in the league.
“He’s probably pretty close to being a superstar,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “But he doesn’t think of himself that way. He thinks of himself as, ‘I got to get better. I’m still learning.’ He still thinks there’s a lot of upside with him.”
Did you know stats of the week
Keeping pace with Jim Brown: McCaffrey’s 150-yard games
Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey had 155 yards from scrimmage in last week’s loss at San Francisco. It was his fifth game of the season with at least 150 scrimmage yards. If he reaches that mark against the Titans on Sunday, he’ll join Jim Brown of the 1963 Browns and Matt Forte of the 2011 Bears as the only players in NFL history to have six 150-yard games from scrimmage in his team’s first eight games.
Move over Daunte: Dak climbing on rare TD chart
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has 15 games with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. That’s the third-most by a player in his first four seasons. Prescott can tie former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper for second as early as Monday night’s game against the Giants. Culpepper had 16 of them despite sitting as a backup in his first season. No. 1 on the list is Cam Newton with 24.MARK CRAIG
