Forget Darnell Mooney’s dropped Hail Mary, or more accurately kicking it right to a Cleveland Browns defender. That would-be epic winning TD pass by Chicago Bears lame-duck quarterback Justin Fields would’ve never meant anything if berated-by-Taylor-Swift NFL officials had any wherewithal to call holding penalties when Myles Garrett was barreling in on a pass rush.
This reel of Garrett’s relentless attack on the Bears’ o-line and that unit’s many inconsequential infractions from Sunday’s 21-17 victory is something I’ve just stumbled upon and can’t get enough of:
In a professional football league filled with athletic freaks terrorizing QBs off the edge, Garrett is perhaps the freakiest of all. Like, he’s so ridiculous that you could legitimately argue he’s underachieved with 87.5 sacks through 98 regular-season games. I’m only kind of kidding about that.
Of course, sacks don’t tell the full story of generating pressure. There are countless untold times where Garrett has set his teammates up for sacks of their own. Also, it’s becoming a little ridiculous how often Garrett gets held and it isn’t called. Dude could have, like, 25 sacks if offensive linemen weren’t illegally clinging to him for dear life.
Don’t take my word for “sacks not telling the full story.” Listen to Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski sound off on that lazy take:
Some nice still frames from Sunday’s action, too:
It’s almost like Garrett is too good to the point where referees don’t want to make the game unfair for the other team. I legitimately can’t believe he’s never won Defensive Player of the Year. Some idiots, however, will look at the fact that Garrett has zero sacks over his last three games and say, “HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT.”
Here’s my response to that hypothetical, in case Stefanski’s wasn’t enough. Myles Garrett is the most important piece on the NFL’s No. 1 defense in terms of total yards allowed. The Browns are on literally their fourth starting QB of the season, yet they have a 9-5 record. That QB is Joe Flacco. He turns 39 in less than a month. Flacco was on the couch and out of the NFL less than a month ago.
Cleveland’s defense is only two off the NFL lead for takeaways (23), yet the team has a MINUS SEVEN turnover margin. Flacco threw three interceptions against the Bears, including a pick-six. The Browns still won!
If Myles Garrett isn’t Defensive Player of the Year, who or what is that award even for?
In my Rashard Mendenhall Bowl roster breakdown, Garrett was the very first man I thought of for the favored team’s defensive end position. Check all that out below if you’d like.
