Geno Smith took 10 sacks against Cleveland last week. It's a big number, but I was a little surprised to find it's not the most sacks a quarterback has taken in a game this century. And he's also not the only current starter who's taken a crazy amount of sacks.
Using the search tools at pro-football-reference.com, I found that he's one of 11 quarterbacks this century to take at least 10 sacks in a game. Three took more than 10 (one of whom, Greg McElroy, I do not remember). To get a slightly larger player pool, I see that 38 took at least 9 sacks in a game.
A surprising number of those players will be starting games in Week 13.
The four other 10-sack quarterbacks starting this week include Marcus Mariota (at Denver), Jacoby Brissett (at Tampa Bay), Daniel Jones (against Houston), and Matthew Stafford (against Carolina). Geno (at the Chargers) and three of those quarterbacks (you can figure it out) are facing defenses that are ranked among our top-12 fantasy defenses in standard scoring system this week.
In the table, quarterbacks who are starting this week are in bold. Note that Mariota appears on the list twice, and he's facing a defense this week that has 49 sacks in its first 11 games.
| QUARTERBACKS TAKING 9-PLUS SACKS IN A GAME, 2000-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Yds | TD | Int | Sk |
| 2007 | Donovan McNabb | at NYG | L, 3-16 | 138 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2018 | Marcus Mariota | Bal. | L, 0-21 | 117 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2012 | Greg McElroy | S.D. | L, 17-27 | 185 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 2011 | John Beck | at Buf. | L, 0-23 | 208 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 2017 | Jacoby Brissett | Jac. | L, 0-27 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2014 | Chad Henne | at Was. | L, 10-41 | 193 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2001 | Brad Johnson | Pit. | L, 10-17 | 283 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2023 | Daniel Jones | Sea. | L, 3-24 | 203 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 2007 | Jon Kitna | at Phi. | L, 21-56 | 446 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 2025 | Geno Smith | Cle. | L, 10-24 | 285 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 2018 | Matthew Stafford | at Min. | L, 9-24 | 199 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2021 | Joe Burrow | at Ten. | W, 19-16 | 348 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2002 | David Carr | at S.D. | L, 3-24 | 87 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 2001 | Chris Chandler | N.O. | L, 10-28 | 233 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2005 | Daunte Culpepper | at Atl. | L, 10-30 | 250 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 2010 | Jay Cutler | at NYG | L, 3-17 | 42 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2024 | Sam Darnold | at LAR | L, 9-27 | 245 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2023 | Tommy DeVito | at Was. | W, 31-19 | 246 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 2022 | Sam Ehlinger | at N.E. | L, 3-26 | 103 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2019 | Luke Falk | at Phi. | L, 6-31 | 120 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 2021 | Justin Fields | at Cle. | L, 6-26 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2025 | Justin Fields | Den. | L, 11-13 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2015 | Blaine Gabbert | at Cle. | L, 10-24 | 194 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2023 | Sam Howell | Buf. | L, 3-37 | 170 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 2004 | Chad Hutchinson | G.B. | L, 14-31 | 196 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2012 | Kevin Kolb | at St.L. | L, 3-17 | 289 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2019 | Marcus Mariota | at Jac. | L, 7-20 | 304 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2021 | Baker Mayfield | at Pit. | L, 14-26 | 185 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 2014 | Cam Newton | at Phi. | L, 21-45 | 306 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 2013 | Terrelle Pryor | at K.C. | L, 7-24 | 216 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 2006 | Ben Roethlisberger | at Bal. | L, 0-27 | 214 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 2019 | Matt Ryan | N.O. | L, 18-26 | 312 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 2013 | Matt Ryan | Car. | L, 20-21 | 280 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 2011 | Alex Smith | at Bal. | L, 6-16 | 140 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2018 | Ryan Tannehill | at Min. | L, 17-41 | 108 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2006 | Andrew Walter | at Sea. | L, 0-16 | 166 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2022 | Carson Wentz | Phi. | L, 8-24 | 211 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2024 | Caleb Williams | N.E. | L, 3-19 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
--Andy Richardson