Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers got the best of the Cleveland Browns on Sunday 15-10 and the veteran QB had some playful shade for Myles Garrett after the victory.
Garrett came dressed as the “sack reaper” for the Halloween matchup and has had a graveyard of quarterbacks set up in his front yard. Roethlisberger has been featured prominently in both, which doesn’t both him if his team is churning out the wins against the Browns.
“Myles is a special talent, and I told him after the game that he can take the tombstone from his yard, but I will take the win,” said Roethlisberger, who was sacked once and hit twice by Garrett.
Ben Roethlisberger jokes about Myles Garrett decorating his yard with tombstones of QBs for Halloween after the @steelers win.
Garrett carries a similar respect for Roethlisberger but had a firm message for Roethlisberger about the Browns’ January 3 trip to Heinz Field.
“The man has been great for a long time, and he has been great here for a long time. It is tough, but we will see him again, and we will get the chance to return the favor when he is at his house,” Garrett said after the loss. “It hurts that we could not protect our house, but his home is not safe either.”
Roethlisberger gave a shoutout to his rookie offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr., who was responsible for slowing down Garrett most of the afternoon.
“I have been joking with Dan all week, and I just told him now he can finally sleep,” Roethlisberger said. “I thought Dan did a great job. I think Myles had one sack, maybe two, I don’t even know. It is tough to ask a rookie to go against that guy, and what he did today was pretty special. I can’t say enough about the line – run game and pass pro, they are the heart of this group.”
Garrett Wanted to ‘Send Off’ Roethlisberger Right
There’s speculation that Sunday’s game could have been Big Ben’s final one in Cleveland with the Steelers. Knowing that, Garrett wanted to do his part in sending off Roethlisberger the right way.
“Hell, I have to send him off, right? If it is,” Garrett said prior to Sunday’s game. “He’s left a huge legacy in Pittsburgh and here, so I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t leave with a win. But got to respect what he’s done and the greatness that he’s had on the football field.”
With the sack of Roethlisberger, Garrett extending his lead-lead in sacks, now having 10.5 to his name this season.
Browns Need to Regroup After Loss
The Browns are now 4-4 after losing to the Steelers and are the basement dwellers in the AFC North. That being said, the Bengals losing at least kept Cleveland in the mix, but they’ll have to turn things around in a hurry to remain a playoff contender.
“It is not fun. It was definitely a winnable game for us, but we did not do it,” Garrett told reporters after the loss. “We did not execute like we needed to. We had a good game on defense, but not well enough. Nobody is happy with what we did on any of the phases, and so, we need to go back to the drawing board and keep on working. We have nine more games. At the end of the day, the crown of the AFC is still up in the air – at least in the AFC North.”
The Browns face the Bengals next week in another crucial AFC North matchup.
Browns DE Myles Garrett Roasted by Ben Roethlisberger After Loss