Minnesota Vikings

Everson Griffen must pick up pace in order to match 2014 sack total

Published Nov. 30, 2015 9:23 a.m. ET

foxsports

Minnesota Vikings defensinve end Everson Griffen is still terrorizing opposing quarterbacks; he's just bringing them to the ground at a less frequent rate this year. He slung Atlanta's Matt Ryan to the ground on Sunday, bringing his season total up to 7.5 sacks.

Last year, Griffen finished with 12 sacks. In order to match that figure, the 6-foot-3, 273-pound pass-rusher must average about a sack per game over the last five games of the season. That's very possible, since he has recorded a sack in each of his last three outings.

Griffen is currently a top-10 pass-rusher in terms of sacks. However, if you include lump last year's production with this year's, he's one of the NFL's top five sack masters.

Since the start of last season, @EversonGriffen is 5th in the NFL with 19.5 sacks.
— Vikings PR (@VikingsPR) November 29, 2015

The Vikings gave Griffen -- originally a fourth-round draft pick out of USC -- a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension after a breakout season in 2014. The team would be disappointed to see a dip in the D-end's production after dishing out a huge payday.