Falcons weekend trivia: Which team holds the single season record for sacks?

Last year, the Falcons pass rush hit rock bottom, which is saying something. Atlanta’s pass rush has rarely been a team strength over the past decade, but they topped out at a league (and franchise) low with 18 sacks and rarely impacted the quarterback, allowing luminaries like Tim Boyle and Tua Tagovailoa to pass all over them.

We’re hoping the pass rush is headed in the right direction with the addition of Arnold Ebiketie, Lorenzo Carter, and DeAngelo Malone, among others, and a turnaround there would go a long way toward making this team better in 2022. They’re unlikely to come close to the team record for sacks until they do quite a bit more building on defense, but even modest improvement would be incredibly welcome.

Either way, they have a way to go until they reach the heights of some Falcons teams of yesteryear. If you can believe it, Atlanta once managed over 50 sacks in a single season, and they’ve managed over 40 on multiple occasions. That season, four Falcons had eight or more sacks, and while the defense overall wasn’t one of the best in franchise history, they sure put quarterbacks in the dirt a lot that year.

So that’s our question for the day: Which year saw the Falcons pick up a franchise-record number of sacks? Bonus points if you can name their leading sack artist that season.

Also, Falcons, please bring me the days of absurd sack totals and constant pressure once more, if you would.