CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It didn’t take Myles Garrett long to feel at home Sunday.
The 2017 No. 1 pick who grew up a few minutes from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas added two more sacks to his quickly growing total for the season as well as career in a 49-38 win over the Cowboys.
“It was a great homecoming,” Garrett said.
In front of about 10 family and friends, Garrett wasted no time going to work. His first sack came on the second play of the game for a loss of 11.
“I am always trying to start fast,” Garrett said. “I am trying to read the guy and understand him. I will read him after I test him with whatever I have planned before the game. I move and see how he bit on it, and whether I have to adjust or counter, that is for the next play. I was able to have success with the second play of the game. It was a good start, and I am hoping to have many more of those.”
Garrett’s second sack game early in the second quarter when he strip-sacked Dak Prescott that defensive end Olivier Vernon fell on at the Dallas 34.
It was the third straight week Garrett ripped the football from a quarterback’s hand and the turnover was turned into another touchdown to give the Browns a 21-14 lead.
“Once again, Myles makes a big time play in a big moment,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “I told him if he keeps getting one strip-sack a game, I am not going to be mad at him. We kind of had their defense on the field a lot in the first half, but the way they played in the second half, they had a lot of plays and they tired us down a little bit. We made the plays when we needed to, and that is the most important part. Myles once again changed the game for us.”
The two sacks give him 5.0 on the season and 35.5 for his career. It was Garrett’s 10th multi-sack game of his career, and the second of the season. Only Reggie White (52), Aldon Smith (42), Shawne Merriman (38.5) and Derrick Thomas (38.5) had more sacks than Garrett through their first 41 games in the NFL.
“No. 95 is all over the field,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He is giving us an honest day’s work every time he is out there, playing the run and playing the pass. Really happy for him to be able to do this in his hometown in front of some people who I am sure know him from growing up, friends and family. Very happy for him. We are going to need him. He is our best player there. We expect a lot from him.”
Making history – The Browns have scored 30 or more points in three straight games for the first time since 1968.
The 31 points scored in the first half were the most by the team in the first 30 minutes since 1991.
The 3-1 start is their best since 2001 and it is the best start for a Browns first-year head coach since Butch Davis.
Odell Beckham Jr., Kareem Hunt and D’Ernest Johnson ran for over 70 yards marking the first time in franchise history the Browns had three players gain at least 70 on the ground.
Career days – With Nick Chubb sidelined, Johnson and Dontrell Hilliard stepped in and kept the run gam chugging along.
“Our guys ran extremely hard,” Mayfield said.
Johnson led the Browns with career highs of 13 carries and 95 yards.
“That is my boy. I call him ‘Slow Grind’ because he takes it slow, and he is just always working hard,” Kareem Hunt, who ran for 71 yards and two touchdowns, said. “D’Ernest is a hard worker, and he really deserves it. I was just happy for him. I was doing everything in my power to tell him some things of what was going on out there. He just did a great job of filling in. I told him we needed him. Nick went down so I told him, ‘I need you too, man.’”
Hilliard added 43 more yards, a career-high, on five carries.
Super note – The last two teams to score 49 at the expense of the Cowboys were the 2013 Broncos and 2004 Eagles. Both teams went on the appear in the Super Bowl.
Injury report – WR KhaDarel Hodge (hamstring), RB Nick Chubb (knee) and DT Larry Ogunjobi (abdomen).
Chubb and Ogunjobi will undergo MRI’s on Monday.
