CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Myles Garrett did something he hadn’t done yet, and in the process made Browns history.
Garrett hit the defender’s version of the superfecta – a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and return for a touchdown on the same play that helped the Browns beat the Ravens 24-22 to climb to second place in the AFC North and to eighth in the AFC playoff race.
With less than a minute to play in the first half, Garrett blew by the left side of the Ravens offensive line and stripped backup quarterback Tyler Huntley from behind.
“I knew I was going to make a play,” Garrett said. “I saw JD [Jadeveon Clowney] bobbling it, and I was getting ready to block. The ball was on the ground and nobody was going for it, so I will take it.”
The ball bounced loose around the 15 where Garrett hustled to chase it down. He scooped it up and ran up the far sideline into the end zone with the ball raised in his right hand as he crossed the goal line for his first career NFL touchdown to give the Browns a 24-3 lead over the Ravens.
“Just a great play by a great player,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He is very difficult to block – just ask our offensive linemen when they have to go up against him in practice. For him to be ball aware in that moment was something we have been talking about and emphasizing just to get it out, and then to recover it and run it back in, I thought was again a great player making a big play in a big moment.”
With the strip sack plus scoop and score, Garrett set the Browns franchise single season sack record. His 15th sack broke the team’s official previous record of 14 set by Reggie Camp in 1984.
“I thought it was a great play,” Clowney, who had a key sack on the final defensive series late in the fourth quarter, said. “I was trying to tip it to myself at one point and I seen him come up there and get it and I was like ‘You got the whole trifecta – the sack, the fumble recovery and the touchdown.’ So great play from a great player. Something you can’t really say ‘wow’ cause, hell, he done did it before. So ain’t nothing new he just did it again.”
It was the first fumble return for a touchdown by a Brown since Craig Robertson did it in a 25-24 loss to the Colts on December 7, 2014.
Friday afternoon Garrett challenged his teammates after he felt they weren’t focused enough coming off the bye and once again he led by example and they responded to his challenge.
“The standard is being set, and we have to be consistent,” Garrett said. “We cannot just be paper champs. We have to prove it on the field. Once I say something and bring intensity, I feel like they match it every time so I have to bring it every time.”
Garrett’s 11 career forced fumbles rank first by any No. 1 overall pick in their first five seasons and ties Bruce Smith for second most by a No. 1 overall pick in NFL history.
Garrett’s 57 1/2 career sacks, which are the fourth-most in the NFL since 2017, rank second only behind Hall of Famer Reggie White (72.5) for most in the first 64 games and he tied Hall of Famer Bruce Smith for the most sacks by a No. 1 overall pick in their first five years.
Huntley replaced former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, who was knocked out of the game due to an ankle injury. He was carted to the locker room following a brief evaluation in the medical tent.
Garrett trails Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt by 1 sack for the league lead this season and he is 4 1/2 sacks shy of tying Clay Matthews Jr.’s franchise record for sacks in a career.