NFL Single-Season Tackles for Loss Record Progression
Every season that raised the bar, and the leader in every season between.
The NFL single-season tackles for loss record is 39, set by J.J. Watt in 2012. It has stood for 13 years. The mark has been raised 2 times since 1999.
Record Holders
3 marks since 1999| Year | Player | TFL | Stood for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 |
 J.J. Watt
|
39 | still standing |
| 2001 |
 Michael Strahan
|
22 | 11 years |
| 1999 | Bryant Young | 19 | 2 years |
The earliest marks here are records only in the sense that nobody had done better yet. Season length, schedule and the rules themselves have all changed, so a figure from the 1870s is not comparable with a modern one and is not offered as though it were.
Every Season
23 seasons| Year | Leader | TFL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Myles Garrett | 33 | |
| 2024 | Myles Garrett | 22 | |
| 2023 | Maxx Crosby | 22 | |
| 2022 | Nick Bosa | 19 | |
| 2022 | Maxx Crosby | 19 | |
| 2021 | T.J. Watt | 20 | |
| 2021 | Nick Bosa | 20 | |
| 2021 | Micah Parsons | 20 | |
| 2020 | T.J. Watt | 23 | |
| 2019 | Shaquil Barrett | 18 | |
| 2018 | Aaron Donald | 24 | |
| 2017 | Chandler Jones | 27 | |
| 2016 | Joey Bosa | 17 | |
| 2015 | J.J. Watt | 27 | |
| 2014 | J.J. Watt | 27 | |
| 2013 | Robert Quinn | 23 | |
| 2012 | J.J. Watt | 39 | new record |
| 2006 | Will Demps | 1 | |
| 2002 | Hugh Douglas | 20 | |
| 2001 | Michael Strahan | 22 | new record |
| 2000 | Warren Sapp | 18 | |
| 2000 | Hugh Douglas | 18 | |
| 1999 | Bryant Young | 19 | new record |