In the 16-10 win over the Ravens, Ryan Kerrigan logged the 50th sack of his career, becoming only the third Redskins player to have done so since the statistic officially started being record in 1982.
The Redskins defense showed up in big ways in the team's Week 5 victory. For Ryan Kerrigan, the day was one for the record books.
Kerrigan recorded his 50th career sack in the 16-10 win over Baltimore when he brought down Joe Flacco for a loss of six yards on the last play of the first half. So far this season he has two and a half sacks, ten tackles and a forced fumble through five games.
Getting this sack, in the middle of the defense's best performance so far this year, was quite a moment for Kerrigan.
"It always feels good to get to the quarterback because sacks are hard to come by," Kerrigan said. "Any time you can get there it's an extremely rewarding feeling, so I was really glad to get there."
Kerrigan now is among the elite pass rushers in Redskins history, joining Charles Mann and Dexter Manley in the record books as the players to ever record at least 50 sacks since it first started being recorded in 1982.
While 50 sacks is without a doubt an impressive amount, Kerrigan still has some distance to go before matching these legendary players. Manley has the most in team history, collecting 91 sacks in his nine years in Washington, including an impressive 1986 season when he recorded 18.5, while Mann had 82 from 11 seasons with the Redskins.
Kerrigan's 50th sack came halfway through an impressive defensive outing by the Redskins, eventually holding Baltimore scoreless in the second half by preventing a game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Kerrigan has had at least 7.5 sacks every year of his career with his lowest total coming in his rookie season. His best year was 2014 when he finished with 13.5 and tied a Redskins record, logging a sack in five consecutive games. In 2015, he had 9.5, his second highest total in his career.
With two and a half sacks in just five games this year, he is certainly working hard to keep his personal record per season alive in the midst of the team's three-game winning streak.
But the sixth-year veteran knows that the entire team has work to do if they can register off four wins in a row, as they host a 3-1 Philadelphia Eagles team this Sunday at FedExField.
"This one felt good to win, but got to get right back to work," Kerrigan said. "We're still early in the season, we're 3-2 and like you said, we dug ourselves out of a hole, but we still got a long way to go."
