LAS VEGAS — Go ahead and try to pick the most impressive accolade for Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett this season.
Start with him breaking his own team record for sacks in a season. He’s up to 18 after adding three to his tally on Sunday against the Raiders, breaking his previous record of 16, which he set in 2021 and tied in 2022.
On Sunday, he joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White (19 sacks) and Mark Gastineau (17.5) as the only players since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, with at least 17 sacks through their first 11 games of a season.
He is the first player since 1982 with at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons and ranks first in the NFL with 120.5 sacks since entering the league in 2017.
He’s the third player since 1982 with at least 16 sacks in three career seasons, joining J.J. Watt (four seasons) and White (four).
Garrett’s 18 sacks this season surpasses Gastineau (17.5 sacks) for the second-most sacks in a player’s first 11 games of a season since 1982, trailing only White (19), and is the third player since 1982 with at least 16 sacks in three career seasons, joining J.J. Watt (four seasons) and White (four).
His 14 sacks in a five-game span is the most by an NFL player, beating out White by 1.5 sacks.
Or maybe it’s just this:
“Three sacks, it’s a down game for him,” Browns left guard Joel Bitonio said, “so he’s doing alright.”
Garrett is on an all-time tear right now. He has sacks in each of the last five games, but that’s just scratching the surface. He had five sacks against the Patriots in Week 8, four against the Ravens last week and three against the helpless Raiders, who saw quarterback Geno Smith get sacked 10 times on Sunday and hit 20 times.
The biggest compliment to Garrett is that a three-sack game, including a strip-sack, has kind of become par for the course this season.
“That’s a helluva month,” Garrett said after the Browns beat the Raiders, 24-10. “Helluva last four games. I don’t even think about it. I’m just thinking about the next one, how we can put it all together and do it again.”
The NFL sack record of 22.5 is within his sights. It’s currently held by former Giants defensive end and Hall-of-Famer Michael Strahan and Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt.
At his current pace, Garrett would reach 27 sacks. Given his recent hot streak, we could be talking about it happening in the next two weeks.
“Chasing Mike, chasing greatness,” Garrett said. “If God wills it, I’ll go get it hopefully sooner rather than later. I don’t try to delay this thing.”
Garrett was happiest on Sunday that many of his teammates on the defensive line got to feast on a day when sacks were piling up. Eight different Browns players collected at least half a sack. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins had 2.5. Linebacker Devin Bush and defensive ends Isaiah McGuire and Cam Thomas had one each. Defensive tackles Mike Hall Jr. and Shelby Harris and linebacker Jerome Baker each had half a sack.
“I felt like all the guys were winning their rush and doing their thing,” Garrett said. “So that’s the thing I’m most excited about. That’s what put a smile on my face. Thinking I’m going to have the franchise record, I kind of expect that of myself. I continue to set the bar higher and higher.”
Garrett acknowledged when a game is going like that for a pass rush, everyone wants to get in on the action.
“When it’s going like that, it’s like why not?” he said. “I had one at the half and I was like, ‘Shoot, we’re going to get some more opportunities. Let’s just keep going, see how far we can take it.’”
Garrett, who missed Friday’s practice with an illness, was the lone recipient of a game ball in the postgame locker room.
“He’s got to get a cold every week,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said in a video of the postgame locker room speech posted by the team. “He had a cold this week, wasn’t feeling himself.
It certainly seemed like he was still dealing with something after the game. He paused prior to at least one answer due to a coughing fit.
Still, there he was again on another Sunday, putting up historic sack numbers, this time in a win.
“I want (the record) to come and a win,” he said. “I want to have a chance to play some games in January and in February, so we got to win out.”
It might be unlikely, but with a player like Garrett performing at the peak of his powers, nothing can be ruled out. All he’s done all season is make history.
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