David Bailey, in the span of 4 plays and some 27 seconds of clock time late in the second quarter at Kansas City, came rip-roaring off the edge, into a nightmare or two of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, and into temporary if not permanent status in a few record books.
But Bailey, who's shown especially in the past month why he was the second pick of the April draft, has some similarities to a teammate almost 13 years his senior. QB Geno Smith declined to talk about his personal statistical profile this season in a CBS production meeting last week because team goals ahead are always more important than shiny individual objects in the rearview.
"That's a positive," Bailey said of his impact during the Jets' loss at KC, "but obviously there's a lot of things we've got to work on as a team."
Such a selfless approach is always music to fans' ears. But, sometimes being in the shiny-object business, we didn't want to leave Kansas City without mentioning a few more items from his game and season that stood out before we turn our attention fully to the Bills and Josh Allen coming to MetLife Stadium this Sunday.
In the Jets Record Book
Bailey became the first Jet and the first Jets rookie to notch a pair of strip sacks in a game since S Jamal Adams in 2019. Bailey is also the Jets' first front-seven player to achieve 2 strips in a game since LB Calvin Pace in 2009 and just the sixth since the Jets became the Jets in 1963. Here are the team's front-seven players who have achieved that rare double:
| Season, Game | Jets Defender | Opponent | Opposing /qbs | Rcvd by Jets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 Gm 4 | DE LaVerne Torczon | vs BOS | Tom Yewcic | 1 |
| 1976 Gm 10 | DE Richard Neal | vs TB | THanratty/PDickerson | 2 |
| 2005 Gm 11 | DE John Abraham | vs OAK | Marques Tuiasosopo | 0 |
| 2008 Gm 4 | LB David Bowens | vs ARZ | Kurt Warner | 2 |
| 2009 Gm 7 | LB Calvin Pace | @ OAK | JRussell/BGradkowski | 2 |
| 2026 Gm 9 | EDGE David Bailey | @ KC | Patrick Mahomes | 1 |
Other Jets defensive backs with 2 strip sacks in a game besides Adams are S Kerry Rhodes at Buffalo in 2006 and CB Drew Coleman at Pittsburgh in '10.
These are the most strip sacks in a game by the Jets; officially (since 1982) and unofficially (1963-81); no Jet had 3. Strips in a Jets season is a different matter ─ John Abraham holds the team record with 6 in 2005.
Positioning for NFL Record & Fact Book Entry
Besides Jets history, Bailey's numbers give him temporary residence toward perhaps full ownership of a few homes in the NFL Record & Fact Book. For instance, he still has a way to go to equal the most strips in a game in recent history. Since 1992, the most forced fumbles in a game is 4, done by Broncos LB Simon Fletcher in '92 and equaled by Bears CB Charles Tillman in 2012.
But Bailey on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium became one of eight NFL players since 1992 to score 2 strips in the same drive, and the only rookie to do so.
Then there are berths in the separate categories of sacks and forced fumbles that he's in position to try to achieve. Before the MNF game, Bailey is tied for third in the NFL with his 7.5 sacks and is tied for the top spot with 49ers LB Fred Warner with 5 FFs.
Bailey's 7.5 sacks are also tied for the fifth most by an NFL player in his first 8 career games since the stat became official in 1982, enabling him to join a top five that features Pro Football Hall of Famers Reggie White and Julius Peppers, according to Elias Sports Bureau. And Bailey's 7.5 through 8 career games are the most by any player in more than two decades.
