Super Bowls in the PFF era: A look back at the best pass-rushing performances of the past decade

Super Bowl 57 is in the books. And while the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate winning another Lombardi Trophy, those of us of the nerdier disposition turn to where individual performances rank in recent memory.

We’ve seen some incredible pass-rushing performances in the big game over the past 10 years, but how do yesterday's efforts compare?

We’ll start by looking at total pressures (sacks, hits and hurries), where we go back to 2019 to see Nick Bosa leading the way with 12 total pressures in Super Bowl 54.

Most QB pressures in a Super Bowl (2001 to 2022)

Year	Player	Team	PFF Sacks	NFL Sacks	Hits	Hurries	Total pressures
2019	Nick Bosa	49ers	1	1	1	10	12
2020	Shaquil Barrett	Buccaneers	1	1	3	7	11
2016	Dwight Freeney	Falcons	1	1	1	7	9
2013	Cliff Avril	Seahawks	0	0	3	6	9
2020	Jason Pierre-Paul	Buccaneers	0	0	1	7	8
2020	Ndamukong Suh	Buccaneers	2	1.5	1	5	8
2015	DeMarcus Ware	Broncos	2	2	2	4	8
2015	Von Miller	Broncos	3	2.5	0	5	8
2014	Michael Bennett	Seahawks	0	0	5	3	8
2022	Haason Reddick	Eagles	0	0	2	5	7
2021	Aaron Donald	Rams	2	2	1	4	7
2017	Brandon Graham	Eagles	1	1	2	4	7
2017	James Harrison	Patriots	0	0	2	5	7

Still, total pressure is a very basic way of looking at pass-rushing performance. If you wanted a better by-the-numbers look, our pass-rushing productivity metric doesn’t just look at the total number of pressures but also the number of pass-rushing attempts and the quality of the pressure.

Here, we looked only at players who rushed the passer at least 10 times, which brings L.A. Rams linebacker Ernest Jones to the top of the pack with his one sack, two hits and one hurry from just 10 rushes in Super Bowl 56. Von Miller‘s masterful performance in Super Bowl 50 comes in second.

Best pass-rushing productivity metrics (2001 to 2022)

Year	Player	Team	Snaps	PFF Sacks	Hits	Hurries	PRP
2021	Ernest Jones	Rams	10	1	2	1	25.0
2015	Von Miller	Broncos	28	3	0	5	19.6
2016	Chris Long	Patriots	15	0	1	4	16.7
2021	A'Shawn Robinson	Rams	12	1	0	2	16.7
2019	Nick Bosa	49ers	40	1	1	10	16.3
2016	Trey Flowers	Patriots	26	3	2	0	15.4
2015	DeMarcus Ware	Broncos	35	2	2	4	14.3
2015	Antonio Smith	Broncos	14	0	1	3	14.3
2015	Sylvester Williams	Broncos	22	0	0	6	13.6
2020	Ndamukong Suh	Buccaneers	37	2	1	5	13.5
2022	Haason Reddick	Eagles	26	0	2	5	13.5

As good as pass-rush productivity is as a metric, it doesn’t tell you about the quality of the pass-rush win — if there was a win at all — or about plays where a rusher beats his blocker only to see the QB get rid of the ball before the pressure can land.

Here is where the PFF grades really shine, and they tell us that over the past 10 years, the best two pass-rushing performances in a Super Bowl belong to the same player — and that player is Von Miller.

Year	Player	Team	Grade	Snaps	Total pressures	Unlocked pressures	Additional Pass-rush wins	Batted passes
2015	Von Miller	Broncos	94.5	28	8	0	1	0
2021	Von Miller	Rams	93.2	33	6	1	6	1
2019	Nick Bosa	49ers	90.6	40	12	5	0	1
2017	Brandon Graham	Eagles	90.5	39	7	1	2	0
2018	Dont'a Hightower	Patriots	90.2	23	4	1	4	0
2013	Chris Clemons	Seahawks	90.2	39	6	0	0	1
2015	Charles Johnson	Panthers	90.2	24	3	0	1	0
2021	Aaron Donald	Rams	90.1	41	7	2	5	0
2021	Leonard Floyd	Rams	87.8	33	3	1	6	0
2015	Sylvester Williams	Broncos	85.6	22	6	2	0	1

No player cracked the list from Super Bowl 57, as the offensive lines held the advantage. In fact, the highest pass-rush grade of the night belongs to Fletcher Cox (65.6), whose score would rank only 40th out of 127 qualifying players.

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