CINCINNATI — The night before he made NFL history, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett had a dream that he fell short of the league’s single-season sack record.
Garrett, though, found a way to make sure that nightmare didn’t become reality.
With his sack of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s finale, Garrett reached 23 for the season, breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record.
The takedown in the Browns’ 20-18 victory pushed Garrett past the previous record of 22.5 sacks that was set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan in 2001 and matched by Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt in 2021.
For much of the afternoon, Garrett neared bringing down Burrow. Earlier on the drive when Garrett set the record, he lined up at defensive tackle and then blitzed as an off-ball linebacker. Finally, with 5:17 left, Garrett used his fastest get-off of the season — 0.23 seconds, according to NFL Next Gen Stats — and a deft swim move to get past left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and corral Burrow.
“It was everything I expected,” said Garrett, whose parents were in attendance to watch the record-breaking sack. “It was so tough. I knew they were going to make it difficult, but s—, I don’t think I saw more than three singles on a real dropback the whole game. I just knew that if I did, I’d have to make that moment count. The feeling couldn’t be better.”
It marked the 12th time he sacked Burrow in his career, breaking a tie with the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson for the most times Garrett has sacked a quarterback. Garrett also sacked Burrow last season to record his 100th career sack in Week 16 of the 2024 campaign.
As the crowd at Paycor Stadium — about 250 miles from Cleveland — erupted, Garrett raised his arms in relief before putting his hands together. Garrett jogged off to the sideline to meet swarming teammates who placed him on their shoulders.
“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.”
The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year and overwhelming favorite to win the award again this season, Garrett used a torrid stretch to rewrite the history books. Entering Week 18, Garrett’s 22 sacks were tied for the third most in a single season by a player since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. Before his streak ended in the Browns’ Week 17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Garrett had recorded at least a half-sack in nine straight games. That included a five-sack performance against the New England Patriots in Week 9, a career high for Garrett and a Browns record, as well as a four-sack showing against the Ravens in Week 11.
In Week 14 against the Tennessee Titans, Garrett became the 13th player to record 20 sacks in a season.
Garrett is the first player in NFL history to record at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons, and he is the only player to record at least 10 sacks in each of the past eight seasons. With 125.5 career sacks, Garrett has the second most by a player in his first nine seasons since 1982. Garrett, who turned 30 on Dec. 29, also passed Hall of Famer Reggie White (108) for the most sacks by a player under the age of 30. Garrett is also tied with Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney for 20th on the NFL’s career sacks list.
The No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett has 10 more sacks than the next-closest player since entering the league (Watt, 115). Garrett, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro selection, also leads the league with 33 tackles for loss.
Cleveland’s loss to the Titans in Week 14 officially eliminated the Browns from playoff contention. However, Garrett’s teammates and coaches rallied around his pursuit of history even in a lost season.
Before the season, Garrett signed a four-year, $160 million extension — then a record for a non-quarterback — as he and the Browns reconciled after he requested a trade in February. Such a contract came with even higher expectations for the preeminent pass rusher of his generation.
Garrett responded with his best season — and the greatest ever for a pass rusher.
“That’s the best defensive end of our generation,” said Brown, who has faced Garrett numerous times in the AFC North as a member of the Bengals and Ravens. “I got a ton of respect for him and his game and his approach.”
As Garrett wrapped up his postgame news conference, he quoted lyrics from Kanye West’s “I Wonder,” the song that played from his phone while he walked up to the lectern, to sum up his afternoon.
“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.”