Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. put his name on the list with the best NFL pass-rushers produced by Alabama when he recorded three sacks during a 41-21 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Anderson became the 16th Crimson Tide alumnus with at least three sacks in a single NFL game. Former Alabama players have done it 29 times, including 10 games by Derrick Thomas, who holds the NFL single-game record of seven sacks.

But Anderson did more on Sunday than welcome New England’s Drake Maye to the NFL in the rookie quarterback’s first start. Anderson also reached career highs with eight tackles and four tackles for loss and had the second pass defended of his NFL career.

The tipped pass was picked off by the Texans at the Patriots 26-yard line to set up a touchdown.

Since the NFL began tracking tackles for loss and passes defended in 1999, Anderson recorded the 12th game in which a player had at least eight tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss and one pass defended, and he did it on 33 snaps, his fewest of the season.

“Proud of Will,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “Massive game for him. To be able to get after the quarterback the way he did with three sacks, also forced an interception by (cornerback Eric) Murray. Just a really, really productive day by him, and he stayed after it. I loved his energy from start to finish. I felt his mindset in pregame warmups, so I knew it was going to be a really good day for him. Will, he’s getting better every week. This is his best game by far.”

Ryans wasn’t kidding about feeling Anderson’s mindset.

“Me and DeMeco have this little thing that we do in warmups,” Anderson said after the game, “where like I check hisself and he check myself. And I could tell by his eyes a couple of times, and he could tell by my eyes.”

Anderson joined the Texans as the third pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. He recorded seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss as he won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.

This season, Anderson had 2.5 sacks and five tackles for loss in the Houston’s first five games. Now he’s tied for the NFL lead in tackles for loss and ranks fifth in sacks.

“It’s a blessing, man,” Anderson said, “and I just take from last year to this year, like, how I would get down on myself, not getting a sack from like Week 1 all the way to Week 8, 9. And it’s like now you’ve just got to keep chopping, man, you’ve just got to keep going and getting better and keep working your moves and don’t be scared to throw moves. I think sometimes last year I was scared to throw moves. And, like, this year, man, if it happened, it happened. That’s just like something this year, like, bro, it’s going to come, just keep being consistent, keep chopping wood, and it’s a just blessing to get to go out there and do that.”

At Alabama, Anderson was a two-time unanimous All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner as a linebacker. The Texans converted Anderson into a defensive end.

“The transition from standing up to putting his hand down, Will has done a great job a great job of progressing,” Ryans said on Monday, “and I think he feels much more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do. It just allows him to use his God-given traits – his explosiveness, his speed, his strength. He’s able to use that even better from that three-point stance, and he’s showing that he’s improving upon it.

“The thing that was impressive about Will yesterday was just him working his escape. He does a great job with the speed-to-power and moving offensive tackles back into the quarterback’s lap, but the way he escaped and won on the edge yesterday, that was why he was able to get those sacks.”

After posting its first victory in eight games at New England, Houston has a 5-1 record. The Texans play the Green Bay Packers at noon CDT Sunday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.