Myles Garrett's presence dictated the Pittsburgh Steelers' game plan and helped fuel the Cleveland Browns 13-6 victory over their most hated rival
The single-season sack record will have to wait another week.
Myles Garrett fell short of earning sack No. 23 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17, which would have made him the new single-season sack king. At the expense of the Cleveland Browns earning a 13-6 win over their biggest rival, though, Garrett won't be losing any sleep this week.
As head coach Kevin Stefanski stated after the game, Garrett was in the locker room celebrating, so he didn't seem to upset about falling short of an individual accolade.
That's probably because Garrett played a pretty important role in the victory, despite not earning a sack on Sunday. Pittsburgh seemed so concerned by the mere presence of the seven-time Pro Bowler that it seemed to impact their entire offensive game plan.
It was something Garrett certainly noticed as well.
"I feel like they were more worried about keeping me away from Aaron [Rodgers] than getting the win, and I think that’s what came back to bite him," said the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year. So they’ll have to fight it out with Baltimore (Ravens) next week. But I’m just proud of the guys for fighting and getting this one. That’s the main thing. And I’m always going to keep it that."
That's generally the mark of a truly dominant player, when a team's game plan revolves around stopping them so much. It's why Garrett is considered a "game wrecker." Only this time, it wasn't really about physically wrecking the game. This time it was a mental thing that truly seemed to hold back Rodgers and the Steelers offense.
"I mean, that’s their M.O. But of course they’re going to throw even quicker when I’m lined up knowing on that side, you know, they had a chipper there sometimes two chippers," he explained. "And through getting out quick, sometimes they’re rolling away, they’re doing a little bit of everything. And I kind of come to expect that. I know they didn’t want me to be the one to break it against them."
Garrett will have one final shot at breaking the record next week against the Cincinnati Bengals and a QB in Joe Burrow he's plenty familiar with bringing down. Burrow and Ravens star Lamar Jackson are the two QBs Garrett has sacked the most in his career, 11 times each.
A 12th against the former would finish off the milestone for Garrett, even if it takes him a 17th game to get there. The Browns star is confident he'll finish it off.
"Four more quarters, 60 more minutes. However you want to draw it up, it’ll get done," he asserted.