BEREA, Ohio — Myles Garrett declared himself the No. 1 edge defender in the NFL after Thursday night’s upset of the Steelers, and now he has an AFC Defensive Player of the Week award to show for it.
Garrett, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, earned the award after recording five tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble during the Browns’ 24-19 victory over the Steelers. All three sacks had a huge impact on the game, with the first an 8-yarder that set kicker Chris Boswell back for a 58-yard attempt that he missed. The second was a strip-sack that led to a field goal, and the third came on a third-down play at the end of the first half to prevent a Hail Mary.
“It’s great,” Kevin Stefanski said. “Individual accolades are tremendous. We want our guys to be recognized. The nice part is it also reflects well on your teammates. So, happy for Myles, and also recognize that it takes everybody to achieve those. But what Myles is doing, play in and play out, game in and game out with the amount of attention that he gets play in and play out is pretty impressive.”
Garrett is the only NFL player to record multiple games with at least three sacks this season, and achieved it in the span of three games. The first was his three-sack outburst against the Chargers. He increased his season total to 10 sacks (tied for third in the NFL) and he is only NFL player to record at least 10 sacks in each of the past seven seasons (2018-24).
NFL players in addition to Garrett with at least 10 sacks in seven consecutive seasons are:
* Lawrence Taylor 1984-90
* Reggie White 1985-93
* Bruce Smith 1992-98
* John Randle 1992-99
* DeMarcus Ware 2006-12
* Jared Allen 2007-13
Of the above list, all are in the Hall of Fame except for Jared Allen, who’s been a finalist four times, and is a semifinalist again this year.
Stefanski certainly believes Garrett is making a strong case to defend his DPOY award.
“If you’re asking me, yes, I don’t have a vote, but I think, and I made this point the other day, what he’s able to accomplish with the amount of attention that he gets is truly impressive,” he said. “It’s like a degree of difficulty type thing. So for him to produce when they’re trying everything in their power to make sure he doesn’t wreck the game. Again, running out of superlatives.”
It’s the fourth time Garrett has won the award. The others were in 2023 (Week 7), 2021 (Week 3) and 2020 (Week 4). He joins Jameis Winston (AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 8) as Browns to earn a conference honor this season.
Garrett headed into the Steelers game seeking to outplay premier edge rusher T.J. Watt, who stole Garrett’s thunder when he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in February by posting on X, “nothing I’m not used to.”
Garrett called out Watt for the post, saying he didn’t throw shade at Watt when he won it in 2021. He also asked for an apology from Watt on Thursday night, which he never got.
But what he did get was bragging rights for best edge rusher in the game by out-sacking Watt 3-0.
After the game, he planted his flag.
“I’m No. 1,” Garrett told Amazon Prime after the Browns improved to 3-8 and the Steelers slipped to 8-3. “That’s from Edge 1 to Defensive Player of the Year. I’m the guy. That runs through me, and there’s no other person being defended as I am or schemed or planned against like I am. Just goes to show, you can throw that out the window — I’m going to find a way.”
He acknowledged that it motivated him to have one of his best career games.
“You try to take things a bit personally, yeah,” he said. “There’s certain aspects to the game that you want to use as motivation, as newspaper material or clipboard, whatever they call it. But you use that as motivation to go out there and play your very best and just try to make that as contagious as possible to men around you.”
He swears he paid no mind to Watt getting shut out.
“I was really just focused on going out there and playing the very best ball I could,” he said. “But yeah, I wanted to make it known that I’m the guy, I’m the No. 1 edge defender. That was a statement I was intending to make and I think I made it.”
Before the game, team captains Garrett and Watt marched out to the middle of the field for the coin toss like two gladiators going to battle, and gave each other an obligatory half-hug.
“I didn’t see him afterwards, but take nothing away from him, no disrespect from my comments,” Garrett said. “He’s an absolute dog, a hell of a player and I’m staying in my lane. But I’m trying to be the guy and I think I’m showing that day in and day out.”
Jameis Winston, who’s developed a close bond with Garrett in their short time together, knew he was loaded for bear.
“You know, you don’t want to put a chip on Myles’ shoulder, all right? Because he will definitely go off,” Winston said. “And, man, I’m just excited. I’m blessed to be a part of a team that has great players and he is a phenomenal player.”
Winston revealed that Garrett gave a fiery pre-game speech of his own.
“I’ve played with some great players, but, you know, he led the charge, man,” Winston said. “He spoke to us in the locker room before the game and he called on everybody to step up and fight with him, and he really set the tone.”
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