Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers desperately needed Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Stadium.
There was also a clear directive on Pittsburgh’s sideline: Don’t let Myles Garrett record a sack, no matter what it takes.
It wound up leading to a losing effort inside a rocking Huntington Bank Stadium. Garrett was shut out in the sack column for the first time since Week 4, but the attention he attracted helped the Browns ride a dominant defensive effort to a 13-6 win over their bitter AFC North rival.
To steal a line from Josh Allen last week — Rodgers didn’t want to be part of Garrett’s record highlight tape. He directed tight ends and running backs Garrett’s way whenever possible, and even ran into a sack by safety Grant Delpit in the third quarter as Garrett applied blind-side pressure.
Garrett came tantalizingly close a couple times, but couldn't get home. He's continually stated that winning is the only goal he really cares about, and he'll have to hold firm on that stance, as his historic sack chase will now forever be marred — by a game his team won over a legitimate playoff contender.
The Steelers did their part. As expected, they stuck to an extremely run-heavy game plan with both D.K. Metcalf (suspension) and Calvin Austin III (hamstring) out of the lineup. When Rodgers did throw, he got the ball out quickly; he had a whopping 13 passing yards at the two-minute warning of the first half, and just 110 entering Pittsburgh's last-ditch drive at the end of the fourth quarter.
The end result was a bittersweet one for Garrett. His sack chase will now carry into Week 18 — against a quarterback in Joe Burrow who he’s already sacked 12 times over his nine-year career.
The brutal reality, though, is that he’s now fallen short of the 16-game record of 22.5 sacks, shared by Micahel Strahan (2001) and T.J. Watt (2021). If Garrett breaks the single-season mark this year, he’ll have the unfortunate caveat of needing 17 games to get there.
Myles Garrett’s historic season should still be celebrated — because it shouldn’t have even been possible
Garrett’s 2025 season has been a rollercoaster ride, one that’s seen his team flounder to 12 losses in 16 games. At this point, it’s hard to fathom Garrett’s three-game, early-season stretch against Detroit, Minnesota and Pittsburgh that saw him get blanked in the sack column altogether.
The NFL record was suddenly on the radar after Garrett recorded a career-high five sacks against Drake Maye and the New England Patriots in Week 8. It was part of the most dominant stretch by a singular defensive player in league history, with Garrett amassing 13 sacks in a span of just four games.
But Garrett’s pace slowed considerably after Cleveland’s road win over the Raiders in Week 12. Injuries to defensive tackle Maliek Collins and No. 1 cornerback Denzel Ward played a major factor, along with a run defense that surrendered 581 yards in the four games since Las Vegas, an average of 145.25 per.
The Browns went 0-4 in those games, and Garrett was held mostly in check, despite adding four sacks total against the 49ers, Titans, Bears, and Bills. That left him at 22-even entering Sunday’s home game against the Steelers.
There was never any team-wide significance for this record. Prior to shutting down the undermanned Steelers on Sunday, the Browns played some of their worst defensive games as Garrett inched to the cusp of history.
Reaching 23-plus sacks, with next to no help, on a losing team that’s often playing from behind? That's still a legendary feat that should be celebrated in Cleveland (and beyond).
If Garrett gets there in Week 18, it could one day be the accomplishment that cements his legacy as the best singular defensive player in NFL history.