Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens were never allowed to get comfortable in the pocket in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns. The defensive line was everywhere, both exploding on the edges to force Jackson into a bad passing decisions or popping through rare holes to force him to scramble.
While Jackson is one of the more elite quarterbacks on the move, having a ton of speed in his back pocket, he didn't have anywhere to go on many of these pressures - the attack from the D-line in addition to some great work from the linebackers in Week 8 helped to hold a potent Ravens offense to 24 points, which helped lead the Browns to a win.
Two pass rushers specifically - Za'Darius Smith and Myles Garrett - truly flexed on the Ravens offensive line in the game, and both finished with very high PFF grades for the contest. Garrett had a score of 85.5 while Smith finished with a 77.2 score. And, both pass rushers had the most pressures of any D-lineman in Week 8's Sunday games with nine apiece. Smith also ended the day with a sack - his second game in a row with one.
Read more: 3 winners (and 1 loser) from Browns big win vs. Ravens in Week 8
Smith and Garrett's names had come up in recent mock trade proposals as the deadline is quickly approaching and as it seemed like the Browns were on the way to being clear sellers come Nov. 5. But, with a win yesterday thanks to both of their efforts, Cleveland may be looking to buy at the deadline as opposed to trading away such key members of its defensive core like Smith or Garrett.
Myles Garrett isn't going anywhere, per Garrett himself
If you had any small doubt that Garrett was actually safe with the Browns for the rest of the season, his comments prior to the Week 8 bout with the Ravens might make you feel differently.
Garrett told reporters after being asked about trade rumors involving his name "I'll be playing here," delivering a short but to the point message to fans worried about him leaving The Land anytime soon. That's a great thing considering it seems like he's back to almost full health after starting the season with so many lingering lower body injuries. In recent weeks, the injury report has also been absent his name, a great sign that Garrett is back to his All-Pro self.
The defense will be needing his leadership in coming weeks with Denzel Ward potentially out for some time with his second concussion of the season and after a scary injury to Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah that landed him in the hospital for the night after the teams' Week 8 win.