CLEVELAND, Ohio — Myles Garrett still hasn’t broken the sack record, and Uncle Crackpot can’t accept the rationale.
You know the type at Christmas dinner. This guy has all the answers, and none of them align with your history books.
He thinks the government faked the moon landing. He thinks Lee Harvey Oswald had an accomplice. He just knows that the Steelers spent this week scheming only to stop Garrett from setting the single-season sack record, division title be darned.
And the worst part is, this week, Uncle C has support from respected voices.
“To an extent, I feel like they were more worried about keeping me away from Aaron than getting the win, Garrett said after Sunday’s 13-6 Browns win, ”and I think that’s what came back to bite them.”
Add Garrett to the crowd of conspiracy theorists after Sunday’s win over the Steelers, which featured zero records broken and plenty of posited reasons why.
To hear Browns fans tell it, you’ve never seen a quarterback throw hot potato passes more quickly than Aaron Rodgers did at Huntington Bank Field on Sunday (average time to throw, according to Next Gen Stats: 2.39 seconds). You wouldn’t believe the barrage of blockers Garrett encountered on each play (41% chip rate). And you can’t ignore that Pittsburgh edge rusher T.J. Watt shares the record in question with former Giants star Michael Strahan.
Connect the dots. Do your own research. There are no coincidences, only hard-to-swallow truths.
Here goes mine: Pittsburgh’s gameplan served as a tribute to Garrett’s greatness on Sunday. Not a detriment.
If the Steelers are conspiring against Garrett, then they count many comrades.
Among the 14 quarterbacks Cleveland has defended this season, nine have posted one of their three fastest times in Pro Football Focus’ average time-to-throw metric. That list does not include Rodgers, who has played five games with faster average release times than Sunday’s game. Nor does it account for the fact that Pittsburgh played Sunday without top receiver D.K. Metcalf, which makes it harder to find open receivers.
The same logic applies to extra blockers, whom Garrett encounters more than most game-wreckers. According to ESPN’s Ben Solak, Garrett faced chips at the eighth-highest clip (41%) of the season on Sunday. One catch, though: He also faced chips at his third-highest rate of the year.
Nothing new. Offenses often pay Garrett extra mind because they’re often worried he will ruin their play. To scheme around him is to salute him.
“We didn’t do anything against Myles that we don’t normally do against Myles,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. “The sack record is irrelevant. We’ve got to minimize him if we want to engineer victory. We did the same thing last time we played him. I didn’t think he had any sacks in that game either.
“We didn’t take a different approach because of the gravity of the record. It’s just standard business when you’re playing (the Browns) and him.”
My guess: Tomlin’s staff had a different type of gravity in mind when it devised Sunday’s plan. Like Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Garrett draws attention due to his attendance alone. Tight ends and tailbacks follow his alignment before the snap. Teammates like Alex Wright (one sack, three tackles Sunday) enjoy single coverage while Garrett fights double or triple teams. And when quarterbacks sense the 272-pound Garrett approaching, their internal clock accelerates.
Watt’s record? Rodgers was preserving his 42-year-old body on Sunday. Sacks hurt ribs and kill drives. The Steelers spent time and bodies trying to protect both against the Browns. And if Pittsburgh’s offense suffered as a result, then it underscored Garrett’s greatness in the process.
Even without a sack, he can derail the opponent’s game plan. Even without the record, he left the field celebrating on Sunday. And even though Pittsburgh game-planned around Garrett, his teammates helped ruin it.
- BETTING: Browns moneyline is +310 on FanDuel for Sunday’s Week 18 game against the Bengals. Our comprehensive FanDuel Sportsbook review provides a guide on how to sign up and use their site.
You would think such a short passing game (4.3 yards per attempt) would have produced a better completion percentage (53.8%). But you’ve never secured a catch against cornerbacks Tyson Campbell (two pass break-ups) and Denzel Ward (one pass break-up).
The Steelers aimed to produce more yards after catch, but second-level tacklers like rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger (nine tackles), veteran linebacker Devin Bush (nine tackles) and safety Grant Delpit (seven solo tackles) had other plans.
Pardon the plain, boring truth, but I don’t believe the Steelers prioritized a record over a win on Sunday. They just harbored appropriate fear of Garrett and struggled to win matchups against his teammates.
No secret society to see here.
