Is Tennessee Titans EDGE Harold Landry a double-digit sack pass rusher?

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 04: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks to pass as he is hit by Harold Landry #58 of the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 04: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks to pass as he is hit by Harold Landry #58 of the Tennessee Titans in the first quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

I’m curious how you guys would define this season for Tennessee Titans EDGE Harold Landry.

According to every outlet that records stats, Tennessee Titans EDGE Harold Landry has 9 sacks this season, but is that really true?

Alright sure, during the first 16 games of the year (in the regular season) Landry had 9 sacks which was really good and ranked 10th in the AFC despite dropping into coverage more than anyone in front of him.

However, there is a strange stigma that the great pass rushers are only the guys who end up with double-digit sacks. I don’t really get that, but I guess in a world where it is nearly impossible to watch most pass rushers on a weekly basis you have to have some way to filter out people.

My problem with this is when the Titans needed him this week against the Baltimore Ravens, Landry played over 90 snaps and executed extremely well finishing with several pressures, a key QB hit that forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal before half, and most importantly a sack.

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Now, that sack will not be counted towards his season total despite the fact that it happened in one of the most important games in the last decade for the Tennessee Titans. So, you are going to get some people who don’t give him the respect he deserves because he didn’t hit that magic double-digit sack total.

Except he did…kinda.

Do you see the problem here? By ignoring a huge play in one of the games that shaped not just the Titans future, but the league’s future, you move the perception of Landry from a great pass rusher to a solid pass rusher.

I don’t know that there is a solution to this issue, and it isn’t fair to ignore that some teams only get 16 games while others get 18+. However, I am very curious to see how many times in the future the Titans defense is criticized for “not having a double-digit sack guy” despite one of the players actually getting 10 sacks in the 2019-2020 season.

I’m going to add a poll to the Tweet when I send this out, so go vote there on whether you would say Landry should be credited with a double digit sack season or not.

Final thoughts and full disclosure from me: I think that you should get credit for all of your work and while he didn’t get his 10th sack in the regular season it feels disingenuous to prop up QB passing yard stats in garbage time while not giving good players on good teams a consideration for making monumental plays in playoff games.

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