Alim McNeill Sets Career Sack High in Lions Win

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill had never recorded more than five sacks in an NFL season. He cleared that mark in Week 9, dropping Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis in the fourth quarter of a 19-9 Detroit win at Hard Rock Stadium.

McNeill entered the day with 4.5 sacks, a half-sack short of the five he posted in 2023. The sack of Willis at the Detroit 16 with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter moved him to 5.5 on the season , a new single-season best for him.

It came on the day the defense decided the game. Detroit sacked Willis three times and held Miami to nine points and 228 total yards, with every Dolphins score coming on a field goal. Defensive end Derrick Moore had the other two sacks, both of them in the fourth quarter as well.

Alim McNeill Is Having a Career Year for the Detroit Lions

McNeill also came into Sunday with 14 tackles and added three more against the Dolphins, which puts him at 17. The sack total is the number that travels, though: 5.5 in Detroit's eight games is a pace that would clear 10 across a full season, and the Lions still have nine games to play.

No Lions Defensive Tackle Has Reached 10 Sacks Since Ndamukong Suh

The last Detroit defensive tackle to put up 10 or more sacks in a season was Ndamukong Suh , who had exactly 10 as a rookie in 2010. Suh never got back to that number in Detroit either, topping out at 8.5 in 2014 before he left for Miami.

Detroit's defensive line has been the steady part of a 6-2 start, and McNeill is in the middle of it. He is not at 10 yet, but 5.5 through eight games is the best stretch of his six-year career, and if he keeps adding to it, a Pro Bowl spot is in play.