Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Haason Reddick had five sacks Sunday against the New York Giants, establishing an establishment precedent and turning into the main part in the NFL to hit that number this season.
The extent existing apart from everything else hit Reddick toward the finish of the game, when he said he separated in tears.
“Filled with joy; felt blessed,” Reddick said. “This whole year has just been important to me and to see things going the way that I want them to go, to see today happen is just amazing. So, I’m still processing it and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
The Cardinals’ establishment record was recently held by Curtis Greer, who had 4.5 sacks against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 18, 1983.
Sunday was more than achievement for Reddick, who saw his playing time increment after the Cardinals lost All-Pro pass rusher Chandler Jones in Week 5 at a similar arena to a biceps injury. It was approval for the fourth-year linebacker, who had been moved around the Cardinals’ protection since his tenderfoot season contingent upon which instructing staff he was playin for, which added up to three on the whole.
“He just continues to get better and better,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “I’ve said it all along, how much respect I have for him, the perseverance he’s shown. We tried to make him a stand-up linebacker for the past three years and it just wasn’t his deal. It’s not what he was phenomenal at in college and he’s getting more and more comfortable back to that outside rush.
“So, a guy like that who stuck with it, who didn’t let the noise get him down, didn’t let any sort of frustration get him down and just kept working, and now has a game like that, you couldn’t be happy for him. And he’ll keep progressing.”
On Wednesday, Reddick anticipated he planned to get after the quarterback, individual external linebacker Markus Golden said. Reddick liked for the current week in light of what he saw on film from the Giants’ hostile line combined with the Cardinals’ cautious blueprint.
“The game plan worked,” Reddick said, “which is amazing.”
Golden could feel Reddick planned to have a decent game against the Giants due to how Reddick rehearsed throughout the week – however he didn’t think it would have been that huge of a game. “I got a lot of respect and I’m super happy for him,” Golden said.
The Cardinals had eight sacks as a group, with outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck getting acknowledgment for two in the 26-7 win.
It was a noteworthy homecoming for Reddick, who was brought into the world in Camden, New Jersey, and went to secondary school in Haddon Heights, around an hour and a half from MetLife Stadium. He entered Sunday’s down with five sacks for the season. His past single-game high was two sacks, which came in Week 6 on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys.
The past time a player had at any rate five sacks in a game was 2017, when the Atlanta Falcons’ Adrian Clayborn had six against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10. The single-game sack record is seven by Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs. He set the blemish on Nov. 11, 1990 against the Seattle Seahawks.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had a game like this where everything was just working for me,” Reddick said. “I hit on all cylinders.”
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