Atlanta's Vic Beasley led the league with 15.5 sacks last year, while New England didn't have a noteworthy pass rusher. Their top performer in terms of sacks was Trey Flowers, who finished the year with just 7 sacks. Will that edge make a difference in Super Bowl LI?
Based on the history of the game, probably not.
Certainly a great pass rusher can take over a game. Von Miller did it a year ago. Reggie White did it late in Super Bowl XXXI. But more often than not, teams manage to account for those guys, minimizing their impact on the result.
Over the last 20 years, the team with the top pass rusher in the game (based on regular-season sacks) has won the Super Bowl 10 times. The team with the inferior performer in terms of sacks has won nine times. Last year Denver and Carolina each had an 11-sack pass rusher, Von Miller and Kawann Short.
Beasley had a great season, but little history to suggest he'll be a determining factor in Atlanta winning or losing on Sunday.
In the table below, the top pass rusher in the Super Bowl is in bold if his team won the game, italics if his team lost the game.
TOP PASS RUSHERS IN SUPER BOWLS, 1996-2015 | ||
---|---|---|
Teams | Pass Rushers | Sacks |
Green Bay Packers | Reggie White | 8.5 |
New England Patriots | Willie McGinest | 9.5 |
Denver Broncos | Neil Smith | 8.5 |
Green Bay Packers | Reggie White | 11 |
Denver Broncos | Trevor Pryce | 8.5 |
Atlanta Falcons | Lester Archambeau | 10 |
St. Louis Rams | Kevin Carter | 17 |
Tennessee Titans | Jevon Kearse | 14.5 |
Baltimore Ravens | Rob Burnett | 10.5 |
New York Giants | Keith Hamilton | 10 |
New England Patriots | Bobby Hamilton | 7 |
St. Louis Rams | Leonard Little | 14.5 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Simeon Rice | 15.5 |
Oakland Raiders | Rod Coleman | 11 |
New England Patriots | Mike Vrabel | 9.5 |
Carolina Panthers | Mike Rucker | 12 |
New England Patriots | Willie McGinest | 9.5 |
Philadelphia Eagles | Jevon Kearse | 7.5 |
Pittsburgh Steelers | Joey Porter | 10.5 |
Seattle Seahawks | Bryce Fisher | 9 |
Indianapolis Colts | Robert Mathis | 9.5 |
Chicago Bears | Mark Anderson | 12 |
New York Giants | Osi Umenyiora | 13 |
New England Patriots | Mike Vrabel | 12.5 |
Pittsburgh Steelers | James Harrison | 16 |
Arizona Cardinals | Bertrand Berry | 5 |
New Orleans Saints | Will Smith | 13 |
Indianapolis Colts | Dwight Freeney | 13.5 |
Green Bay Packers | Clay Matthews | 13.5 |
Pittsburgh Steelers | James Harrison | 10.5 |
New York Giants | Jason Pierre-Paul | 16.5 |
New England Patriots | Andre Carter | 10 |
Baltimore Ravens | Paul Kruger | 9 |
San Francisco 49ers | Aldon Smith | 19.5 |
Seattle Seahawks | Michael Bennett | 8.5 |
Denver Broncos | Shaun Phillips | 10 |
New England Patriots | Rob Ninkovich | 8 |
Seattle Seahawks | Michael Bennett | 7 |
Denver Broncos | Von Miller | 11 |
Carolina Panthers | Kawann Short | 11 |
Atlanta Falcons | Vic Beasley | 15.5 |
New England Patriots | Trey Flowers | 7 |
--Andy Richardson