Los Angeles pass rusher Khalil Mack racked up six sacks in Sunday’s 24-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, falling one shy of the long-standing record set by Kansas City Chiefs legend Derrick Thomas in 1990.
It is the sixth time in NFL history that a player had six or more sacks in a single game.
The 32-year-old Mack recorded three of his sacks of Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell in third quarter. He had one apiece in the first, second and fourth quarters.
Mack also forced two fumbles with Chargers teammate Austin Johnson recovering one of them.
In addition to his record-setting outing in 1990 against the Seattle Seahawks, Thomas also had six sacks in a 1998 game against the then-Oakland Raiders.
The others who recorded six in a game are “Mean” Fred Dean (for 49ers in 1983), Osi Umenyiora (Giants, 2007) and Adrian Clayborn (Falcons, 2017).
Mack entered the game without a sack this season. He had eight last season in his first campaign with the Chargers.
Mack has 90.5 career sacks in 10 seasons with Oakland (2014-17), the Chicago Bears (2018-21) and Chargers.
In 2016 with the Raiders, Mack was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He is a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.
Thomas played 11 seasons for the Chiefs (1989-99) and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He racked up 126.5 career sacks, including a career high of 20 in 1990.
Thomas was involved in an auto accident in early 2000 and sustained a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Two-plus weeks later, he died from a pulmonary embolism at age 33.
Thomas was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
–Field Level Media
