There is very little positive to take out of the Cleveland Browns loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8. A very winnable game was lost. At 4 – 4, the Browns need to win a two-thirds majority of their games the rest of the year to have a chance at the NFL playoffs.
The most consistent positive for Cleveland all season has been defensive end Myles Garrett. Garrett hasn’t missed any games, unlikely many of his teammates, and has been a constant threat for the defense. He has at least a partial sack in seven of the eight games and leads the league with 10.5.
With only Monday Night Football left in Week 8, Garrett holds a two-sack lead over Harold Landry and T.J. Watt.
With his performance against the Steelers, the Browns former #1 overall pick earned Pro Football Focus’ Defensive Player of the Week award despite Pittsburgh quick passing game attempting to negate him:
That didn’t stop Browns edge defender Myles Garrett from posting eye-popping numbers, though. Garrett earned a career-high 94.3 pass-rush grade against the Steelers, recording a sack, a hit and two hurries across 30 pass-rush snaps. His 46.7% pass-rush win rate led all edge defenders for the week and was the highest of the season among those with 25 pass-rushes in a game.
The award is little consolation for Garrett who took to social media to make it clear he needs to do more:
Great isn’t good enough right now. I need to be better, will be better. Seasons not over, jobs not finished pic.twitter.com/i9afrukDMw
— Flash Garrett ⚡️ (@Flash_Garrett) November 1, 2021
Based on the early results, all that Garrett can do is continue what he is doing and threaten Michael Strahan’s single-season record for sacks (22.5).