Greg Rousseau Is Doing Something Almost Never Seen in NFL History
· Yahoo Sports
Greg Rousseau is making a habit of wrecking games.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
Through the season's first three games, the Buffalo Bills pass rusher has recorded two sacks in each game for six sacks. That puts him alone atop the NFL in that category while giving Buffalo one of the most disruptive defensive players in football.
And the sacks are only part of the story.
Rousseau has generated 23 total pressures through three games, along with eight quarterback hits and three forced fumbles. He's also recorded eight tackles for loss while continuing to consistently win his pass-rush opportunities.
The production has been so consistent that Rousseau is already making NFL history.
He's just the third player since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 to record at least two sacks in each of his team's first three games of a season, joining Mark Gastineau in 1984 and Kevin Greene in 1998. Greene recorded at least two sacks in each of his team's first four games that season, meaning Rousseau has another piece of history within reach against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
What makes Rousseau's start particularly impressive is that he's not relying solely on finishing plays with sacks.
According to Pro Football Focus, his 23 pressures have come on 104 pass-rush snaps, including six sacks, nine hurries, and eight quarterback hits. His 25.5% pass-rush win rate also ranks among the league's best.
That's been evident on game day.
Rousseau recorded two sacks in Buffalo's season-opening win over Houston, including a strip-sack that sealed the game. He followed that with two more sacks against Detroit before doing it again against the Chargers.
The Chargers game was arguably his most complete performance yet. Rousseau finished with eight tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits as Buffalo's defense helped overcome five offensive turnovers in a 24-16 victory.
It's also a continuation of what defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard has seen from Rousseau since the start of the season.
After the Lions game, Leonhard said Rousseau was playing with "a lot of confidence" and credited the Bills' efforts to putting him in positions where he could use his length more often.
"You're just seeing a guy play with complete confidence, trusting what we're asking him to do, trusting in the scheme right now," Leonhard said.
That confidence has translated into production at a remarkable rate.
Rousseau currently has six sacks through three games. If he somehow maintained that pace for a full 17-game season, he would finish with 34 sacks, which would shatter the NFL's single-season record of 23 sacks set by Myles Garrett last season.
Obviously, maintaining a two-sack-per-game pace over an entire season is an enormous ask. But Rousseau has already done something that very few players in NFL history have managed to do in three games.
And with the Patriots coming to Buffalo on Sunday, he has another opportunity to keep the streak alive.