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Anyone arguing that sack rate is not heavily tied to the quarterback is fighting a losing proposition.
Among quarterbacks with at least 4,500 combined regular season and postseason pass attempts, the five lowest combined sack rates in NFL history belong to:
Dan Marino: 3.13%
Peyton Manning: 3.19%
Drew Brees: 3.83%
Tom Brady: 4.42%
Patrick Mahomes: 4.64%
Now look at what happened to their franchises before, during and after their tenures.
DAN MARINO
Same team and same season:
1983 David Woodley: 10.1%
1983 Dan Marino: 3.3%
Marino in 1984: 2.3%
Marino's final season: 2.4%
2000 Dolphins after he retired: 6.2%
PEYTON MANNING
Indianapolis:
1997 Colts: 10.6%
1998 rookie Peyton: 3.7%
2010 Peyton: 2.3%
2011 Colts without Peyton: 6.2%
2012 Andrew Luck: 6.1%
Denver:
2011 Broncos: 8.9%
2012 Peyton arrives: 3.5%
2015 Peyton: 4.6%
2016, first season after retirement: 6.6%
DREW BREES
New Orleans:
2005 Saints: 6.9%
2006 Brees arrives: 3.1%
2020 Brees: 3.2%
2021 Saints after he retired: 6.8%
PATRICK MAHOMES
Kansas City:
2017 Alex Smith: 6.5%
2018 Mahomes: 4.3%
Same 2019 Chiefs team:
Patrick Mahomes: 3.4%
Matt Moore: 8.1%
Mahomes' sack rate has climbed in each of the last two seasons:
2023: 4.3%
2024: 5.8%
2025: 6.3%
That trend is worth watching as he returns from the major knee injury.
TOM BRADY
New England's injury test:
2007 Brady: 3.5%
2008 Matt Cassel: 8.3%
2009 Brady: 2.8%
New England when Brady left:
2019 Brady: 4.2%
2020 Patriots: 7.8%
Tampa Bay:
2019 Jameis Winston: 7.0%
2020-22 Brady: 3.1%
2023-25 Baker Mayfield: 6.5%
Joe Burrow is a notable quarterback who has not been associated with a decreased sack rate.
2019 Bengals before Burrow: 7.2%
2020 rookie Joe Burrow: 7.3%
Same 2025 Bengals team:
Joe Burrow: 17 sacks on 276 pass plays, 6.2%
Joe Flacco: 9 sacks on 265 pass plays, 3.4%
Sack rate does not belong solely to the offensive line. Quarterback play is often the biggest variable.
