The NFL has a new sack king, as Cleveland Browns superstar Myles Garrett made history on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Garrett was able to get to Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to set the new record in the fourth quarter, which moved him to 23 sacks this season. Things looked grim for Garrett, but he was able to get to the quarterback for the first time with around 5 minutes left in the matchup.
The previous record of 22.5 was previously held jointly by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.
Garrett entered the game with 22 sacks. He put those numbers up in bunches. He notched five sacks against the New England Patriots on Oct. 26 and had seven combined in back-to-back weeks against the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders.
What’s more impressive is that Garrett went three weeks without a sack early in the season. Entering the matchup with the Bengals, Garrett was confident he’d be able to get the record-setting sack. And he was willing to do it by any means possible.
“They all count. So, I don’t care if I run his ass out of bounds,” Garrett said. “However he gets got, he gets got.”
Myles Garrett Focused on Winning With Browns
Garrett’s resume is already packed with individual honors, and he’s poised to add another Defensive Player of the Year award to the list. Still, his priorities haven’t changed: winning games and performing on the NFL’s biggest stages matter far more than personal accolades.
Garrett, 30, expressed this week that he has no interest in being part of a rebuild in Cleveland. He signed a four-year extension during the offseason.
“I’m committed to winning, and long as the team organization are doing so and they’re committed to that same thing, then I’m all on board” Garrett said. “But if we’re thinking anything other than winning – tanking or rebuilding, that’s not me.”
The Browns head into the offseason with a lot of uncertainty. Head coach Kevin Stefanski is likely to be let go and the quarterback situation is still unsettled. Garrett is open to offering his opinion but only if asked for it.
“If they ask me, I give my opinion on whatever they ask me about. But I play football and that’s what I like to keep my focus on,” Garrett said. “I feel like they ask my opinion more and more each year on what I want and know how I feel about things. But that’s what you expect for a veteran and, quote, unquote, star player. They want to try to elevate and motivate us, and that helps bring all the other guys along. When we’re happy, that usually means that everyone else is happy.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow Spoke on Myles Garrett’s Sack Record
Burrow was unafraid of being part of the record-setting sack. He said before the matchup that he wasn’t going to change things up in an effort to avoid being sacked by Garrett.
“Yeah, I’m certainly not going to overcompensate either way,” Burrow said. “I’m not going to go out of my way to not let him get the record. And I’m not going to go out of my way to let him get the record either. I’m going to go and play football.
“There’s going to be situations that a sack is the best of the bad outcomes of that play, and maybe I take one. And there’s going to be other situations that I’m about to get sacked and I need to throw it away in that situation. Such a situational game that I don’t think you can go in thinking one way or the other. Every play is so different.”
Garrett entered Sunday with 12 sacks of Burrow and fellow AFC North quarterback Lamar Jackson, the most he has recorded against any passer.
Browns’ Myles Garrett Sets Sack Record in Final Shot vs. Bengals