Stat-Keeping Error Did Not Boost Sack Record for Michael Strahan, Later Tied by T.J. Watt

A thread from social media is suggesting that the 2001 NFL single-season sack record of New York Giants defensive lineman Michael Strahan, which was tied by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt in 2021, may have been aided by a record-keeping error, but that is not the case.

User @JaguarGator9NFL on X, former known as Twitter, believed to have found an error in a game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys from Week 8 of the 2001 season.

On a play, Cowboys quarterback Clint Stoerner snaps the ball from the New York Giants’ 44-yard line. He scrambles and runs upfield, getting tackled at the 43 1/2-yard line. The officials move the ball forward the half yard.

https://x.com/JaguarGator9NFL/status/1788189255904419961

So because Stoerner gained yardage on the play, it should not be considered a sack, correct?

It’s easy to think so, but that’s not actually how it works in terms of NFL scorekeeping. While the ball is supposed to be spotted exactly where it is down, at any increment between yard markers, stat-keeping is done in whole numbers only.

Furthermore, the ball can’t be on the zero yard-line. If the ball is touching the goal line, it’s in the end zone. So a ball that is touching the 1-yard line, or in any of the space between the 1-yard line and the goal line, that is marked for stat-keeping purposes as the 1-yard line. The same thing plays out the rest of the way back the field for the offense, and in inverse for the defense.

So when the Cowboys snapped the ball, in contact with the 44-yard line, it was statistically the 44-yard line. When Stoerner was tackled a half-yard forward, statistically speaking, that is still the 44-yard-line, and it would be all the way up to millimeter shy of the 43-yard line. So even though forward yardage was gained, statistically speaking, it’s a no-gain and a sack, and the play was ruled correctly.

In addition to the in-person live scoring, the NFL also reviews the scoring calls made by in-stadium personnel with video, and that process is also externally audited by Elias Sports Bureau.