Falcons linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. was named the NFC’s defensive player of the week on Wednesday.
Beasley Jr. had three sacks and scored his first career touchdown in Atlanta’s 42-14 win over Los Angeles.
He is the first Falcon and 10th NFL player with three sacks and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
Beasley is tied for the league lead with 13.5 sacks. He leads the league in forced fumbles with six.
Beasley’s sack-to-pressure ratio this season is off the charts.
League-wide this season edge rushers convert pressure into sacks about 15 percent of the time, while Beasley has converted pressure into a sack 28.6 percent of the time, according to profootballfocus.com.
Against the Rams he had six total pressures, but three of them were sacks, and one was the perfect pass-rushing trifecta of a sack, forced fumble and recovery for a touchdown.
This year there have been few pass-rushers to make as many impact plays as Beasley.
