Quick Hits | Zac Taylor’s O-Line “Playing The Best Since I’ve Been Here,” Has Myles To Go; Age of Amarius
OK, let’s deal with the week’s biggest storyline right away.
Last December, the Bengals allowed Myles Garrett’s 100th career sack but beat his Browns, 24-6, at Paycor Stadium.
No doubt they’ll take the same result this Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) when the Browns come into Paycor for the season finale and Garrett one sack from the all-time single-season record held by the Giants’ Michael Strahan and the Steelers’ T.J. Watt.
It puts the Bengals’ blossoming offensive line squarely in the limelight in a game that ends their breakout season.
Since quarterback Joe Flacco arrived for the Oct. 12 game in Green Bay through Joe Burrow’s dissection of Arizona this past Sunday, the Bengals have the league’s fourth-lowest sack percentage, per Pro Football Reference.
In that stretch, they have thrown the second-most passes while throwing the second-most touchdown passes for the second-most yards. In that stretch, the Bengals’ Chase Brown is of one of six running backs to rush for at least 787 yards with a 5.1 yards per carry average.
The Bengals hope to get out of this confrontation without the controversy that seems to haunt the single-season sack record.
When Strahan set it with No. 22.5 in 2001, Packers quarterback Brett Favre was accused of handing him the mark when he went down in a heap after what Favre said was a blown bootleg. It’s hard to see Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow doing that.
Then last Sunday, after the Browns upset the Steelers, Garrett claimed Pittsburgh made certain it denied him Watt’s record at the expense of winning.
On Monday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was as non-controversial as he could be.
“Every year we play him, and there is something on the line for his career. Last year it was his 100th sack, so we are just going to have a plan that gives us a chance to win the game,” Taylor said. “The way he plays in Week 1, he plays the same every week whether he has something on the line or not. He’s got our full attention.”
He certainly has Burrow’s attention. With a dozen sacks each, Burrow and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson are Garrett’s most frequent victims.
“He’s the best, I mean, he’s the best defensive player on planet Earth. Can’t put it in words,” Taylor said. “I have as much respect for him as any player we’ve ever gone against.
“I think the fact that he’s in position where he’s at for this record is a credit to him that he’s done it at such a high level repeatedly, over and over and over again. He’s an absolute nightmare.”
