What is the difference between a sack and a stuff in football?

A sack is a quarterback brought down behind the line while trying to pass. A stuff — ESPN’s name for a tackle for loss against the run — is a ball carrier tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage on a running play. Edge rushers collect sacks, interior linemen collect stuffs, and a defence that does neither gives its opponent second-and-short all afternoon.

Sacks (SACK) in full Stuffs (STF) in full

Where they disagree: 2026 NFL SACK leaders

The league's top 10 in SACK, with what each one did in STF and where that ranked.

2026 NFL SACK leaders, with their STF
Player	SACK	STF	STF rank
Will Anderson Jr.	9.5	4.5	59
Greg Rousseau	8.0	4.5	59
Chase Young	8.0	0.5	446
Andrew Van Ginkel	7.5	4.0	85
David Bailey	7.5	3.5	113
T.J. Watt	7.5	4.5	59
Elijah Ponder	7.5	1.0	347
Dallas Turner	7.0	2.0	225
Jacob Martin	6.5	1.0	347
Jeffery Simmons	6.0	6.5	15

2026 regular season, qualified players only. Ranks are among the players who qualified in STF.