3 matchups the Cleveland Browns must dominate in order to get to 8-3
• DTR vs turnovers
• Garrett on Garett violence
Matchup No. 1: Myles Garrett vs Garett Bolles
There's no rest for the weary. One week after going up against three-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter, Garett Bolles will now draw the assignment of attempting to slow down Myles Garrett. Hunter saw some early success last week against Bolles notching one sack and keeping himself in the race for the league lead in sacks with 12, one behind Myles Garrett’s league-leading 13 sacks.
Bolles is a tough day out for any edge rusher. A former first -round draft pick who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, he's a complete left tackle. ESPN has Bolles as the 11th best offensive tackle in terms of pass blocking win rate, winning 208 of his 228 pass protection reps (92%), as well as 10th in run blocking win rate. It's not hard to think all the way back to just one month ago when Bolles was the apple of every Browns fan's eye as Jedrick Wills was going through his struggles to start off the season.
While Bolles is a formidable left tackle, this is Myles Garrett we are talking about. Garrett leads the NFL with 13 sacks and is the odds-on favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year through 11 weeks. But there are edge rushers nipping at his heels, so if Garrett wants to put some distance between himself and the field, he will need to keep putting up dominant outings.
Russell Wilson is the fourth most-sacked quarterback in the league with 32 on the season. That's just over three sacks allowed to defenses per contest. Garrett should be able to get home multiple times in this game as long as it is an even game script. For those scoring at home, Garrett needs to average a sack and a half over the final seven games to break the NFL’s all-time single-season sack record.