Cleveland Browns: Three X-Factors vs. Dallas Cowboys

No. 1 X-Factor: Myles Garrett

The Browns defense might not be as bad as it was made out to be.

Sure, it needs some help on the back end, and having Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams, and Kevin Johnson healthy at the same time will help that.

After an incredible undershirt gripping sack of Haskins and a strip-sack on Sunday, Garrett has 17 sacks in his last 16 games. Garrett was continually causing disruption in the backfield against Washington and getting big stops.

In recent memory, the Cowboys have been the gold standard for offensive line play. But, earlier this season, their starting right tackle was an undrafted rookie who barely beat out Cameron Erving. Sit back and laugh at that for a moment, please.

So to recap, the Cowboys are down to their third-string right tackle because of injuries to the starter, La’el Collins and Erving, and their starting left tackle, Tyron Smith, is questionable to return this week because of an injury.

Garrett has an opportunity to cause even more disruption and take advantage of these injuries to soothe the offensive attack that Dallas has the potential of pouring on. Garrett will have a decent opportunity to have three straight games with a forced fumble.

At one point, having a “bend don’t break” style of defense was something teams settled for in the NFL. Now, it seems as if the best defenses find a way to stand tall and cause turnovers when needed most.

If Garrett can knock the ball out of Prescott and Elliott’s hands, the Browns will be in a much better position to win the game.