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Nik Bonitto #15 of the Denver Broncos sacks Jake Browning #6 of the Cincinnati Bengals during the second quarter at Empower Field At Mile High in Denver, on Sept. 29, 2025. Matthew Stockman /Getty Images
Already on pace to break the NFL’s single-season sack record, Denver Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto is the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Bonitto had 2.5 sacks and 4 total tackles in the Broncos’ stunning comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Bonitto currently leads the NFL in sacks with 7 sacks through 5 weeks. Other notable players of the week include Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Bonitto’s first stat came with 2:30 left to play in the first half. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scrambled out of a collapsing pocket but was wrapped up at the legs by defensive lineman Zach Allen; Bonitto grabbed Hurts and was credited with a half sack.
His first solo sack came with 3:26 left in the third quarter. Bonitto attacked the inside shoulder of Eagles’ left tackle Jordan Mailata. Mailata squeezed Bonitto down towards left guard Brett Toth, but Toth was occupied by Allen. Defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers looped around the two, and when Mailata engaged him, Bonitto slipped through and took Hurts down for an 11-yard loss.
With 1 minute left in the game, Bonitto got his third sack. He, Allen, Franklin-Myers, and edge rusher Jonathon Cooper collapsed the pocket around Hurts, and Bonitto fought around Mailata’s block to take Hurts to the ground.
Bonitto is the current sack leader with 7; not only does he lead the league, but his total is as many or more as eight teams through five weeks. Extrapolating those numbers out to a full season, Bonitto is on pace for roughly 24 sacks, which would shatter the current record of 22.5 held jointly by Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt and Hall of Fame New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.
Bonitto is not doing it by himself, either. The Broncos also lead the league in sacks as a team with 21, five more than the second-place team, the Detroit Lions, who have 16. Cooper, Bonitto’s opposite number on the edge, is second on the team with 2.5; Franklin-Myers, linebacker Justin Strnad, and cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian have 2 apiece; Allen has 1.5; defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike, linebacker Alex Singleton, edge Jonah Elliss, and nose tackle D.J. Jones all have one.
Just last week, the Broncos had 6 sacks. In addition to Bonitto’s 2.5 and Allen’s half sack, McMillian earned one on a corner blitz; Singleton and Uwazurike were both credited with sacks for pushing Hurts out of bounds on scrambles.
Bonitto had a breakout season for Denver in 2024, playing all 17 games with 15 starts. He had career highs in every statistical category: 48 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and a recovery, 3 passes defended, and an interception. Two of those turnovers went for long scores in consecutive games.
The team rewarded his performance just before the start of this season with a four-year, $106 million contract with a potential for $120 million in total value.
The AFC Offensive Player of the Week was Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud passed for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 44–10 thrashing of the Baltimore Ravens. The AFC Special Teams Player of the Week was Tennessee Titans wide receiver/return specialist Chimere Dike, who had 136 yards on four kick returns—including a 65-yard return—and 33 yards on three punt returns, to help propel the Titans to their first win, a 22–21 comeback over the Arizona Cardinals.
On the NFC side, the Offensive Player of the Week went to Carolina Panthers running back Dowdle, who rushed for 206 yards and a touchdown, and added 28 receiving yards, to propel the Panthers to a 27–24 comeback win over the Miami Dolphins. New Orleans Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry won the Defensive award with his 3 pass defenses and 2 interceptions in the fourth quarter of the Saints’ 26–14 win over the New York Giants. The Special Teams award went to San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddy Pineiro, who went 4 for 4 on field goals—including the eventual game-winning 41-yarder—in the Niners’ 26–23 overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams.
John Rigolizzo is a writer from South Jersey. He previously wrote for the Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Campus Reform, and the America First Policy Institute.
