Browns superstar Myles Garrett is one sack away from the NFL’s all-time single-season sack record, and he thinks that fact weighed very heavily on the Steelers’ minds.
The Browns defeated the Steelers 13-6 in Cleveland on Sunday. Garrett said in his post-game comments that Pittsburgh seemed more concerned with preventing his record-breaking sack than winning the football game.
“To an extent, I feel like they were more worried about keeping me away from Aaron [Rodgers] than getting the win,” Garrett said. “And I think that’s what came back to bite them. They’ll have to fight it out with Baltimore next week, but I’m just proud of the guys for getting this win. That’s the main thing.”
Garrett has said in the past that the Steelers are coached to hold him rather than give up a sack. Steelers players deny this. Pittsburgh did not get called for holding during the game. So, there’s no objective evidence to support Garrett’s claim.
There is, however, an abundance of evidence that the Steelers engineered their entire game plan around Garrett. Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers averaged 2.39 seconds per pass, his fourth-lowest of the year, according to ESPN. In addition, nearly every running play went away from Garrett.
Garrett will get one last shot at the sack record next week when the Browns close out the season against the Bengals. The Steelers will try to jumpstart their offense when they return to the Steel City to take on the Ravens in a winner-take-all game that will determine the AFC North champion.