Myles Garrett on NFL record: I knew I had it in me; now I want a 25-sack season

4 days ago 2

It took longer than Myles Garrett anticipated.

A half a sack of Josh Allen on Dec. 21 drew the Browns edge rusher within a sack of the NFL record. He didn't get a sack against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers last week and was in the fourth quarter of the season finale on Sunday when he finally took down Joe Burrow.

That gave him a single-season, league-record 23 sacks. Hall of Fame edge rusher Michael Strahan had 22.5 in 2001, and Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt tied it in 2021.

Thus, Garrett's nightmare last night that he fell a half-sack short of the record didn't come true.

"It was everything I expected," Garrett said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "It was so tough. I knew they were going to make it difficult, but shit, I don't think I saw more than three singles on a real drop back the whole game. I just knew that if I did, I'd have to make that moment count. The feeling couldn't be better."

Garrett used a swim move to get past left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to get to Burrow with 5:17 left. The Bengals crowd gave Garrett a nice ovation as the game — to Bengals coach Zac Taylor’s chagrin — was briefly paused to allow the Browns to celebrate history.

It was Garrett's 12th career sack of Burrow.

"That's history," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "He's the sack king. That's unbelievable. They've been playing this game for a long time, and for him to go get that in the circumstances, with the degree of difficulty in which he got it this season, is unbelievable. He's the defensive player of the year. You can make him the MVP if I had a vote. And I think the reaction of his teammates is genuine. That's real. These guys care about each other."

Garrett is certain to win defensive player of the year, with no one close to him this season. He first won the award in 2023.

Garrett quoted lyrics from Kanye West's "I Wonder," the song that played from his phone while he walked to his postgame news conference.

"Find your dreams come true," Garrett said. "Been waiting on this my whole life, my whole football career. I knew I had it in me. I wanted that 25 [sacks]. They made it real difficult these last two games, especially, but really these last three. That'll be the next journey, trying to go out there and get 25."

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