For one game, Adrian Clayborn was one of the most unblockable forces the NFL has ever seen.
In Week 9, seven years ago, Clayborn took down Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott six times. Clayborn had that too 3 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles and a fumble recovery while in charge Atlanta Falcons to a dominant 27-7 victory in the first Falcons-Cowboys game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Clayborn’s six sacks broke the Falcons franchise sack record for an individual game. Chuck Smith posted five sacks against the New Orleans Saints in October 1997.
Ironically, the Cowboys will visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium again in Week 9 on November 3. Perhaps that’s a positive omen for the Falcons, who haven’t beaten Dallas since 2017.
The past six seasons the Falcons are 0-3 against the Cowboys, including 0-1 at home. The last two losses to the Cowboys in Dallas were embarrassing for the Falcons in very different ways.
In 2020, the Falcons blew a 15-point lead in the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter. The collapse included Atlanta’s failure to recover a Dallas onside kick attempt in the final two minutes of regulation.
In 2021, the Falcons lost 43-3 to Dallas. The Cowboys dominated with former Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn as their defensive coordinator.
To end the three-game losing streak against Dallas, the Falcons could certainly use a boost from their pass rush, as Clayborn provided against the Cowboys in 2017. Clayborn was one bag shy of the NFL record.
On paper, the Falcons don’t have an edge rusher who can challenge the individual NFL record. In fact, Atlanta has just six sacks in eight games this season. The entire team collecting six sacks in Week 9, let alone one player, would be extremely newsworthy.
But Clayborn wasn’t exactly a prime candidate for a sack record either. In his first six seasons before his record-setting performance, he had 20.5 sacks in 65 games.
In his 10-year career, Clayborn has had more than 6 sacks in a season only once other than 2017.
Obviously, no NFL team should ever count on a defender recording six sacks in a game. But the Falcons will take any sign of life out of their pass rush at this point. A breakout performance this weekend from a veteran like Grady Jarrett, Matthew Judon or David Onyemata would be viewed the same way Clayborn’s was seven years ago.
It would also be a sight to behold terribly sore eyes.