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It came down to the final wire, but Myles Garrett is now in sole possession of the NFL’s single-season sack record. While it seemed like an inevitability, the Cleveland Browns’ star edge-rusher admitted that the Cincinnati Bengals made him work for the historic moment, which did not come until late in the fourth quarter.
“It was everything I expected,” Garrett said after the game, via Scott Petrak of The Chronicle Telegram. “It was so tough. I knew they were going to make it difficult, but, s***, I don’t think I saw more than three singles on a real dropback the whole game. I just knew that if I did, I had to make that moment count. The feeling couldn’t be better.”
Browns Myles Garrett on breaking sack record. pic.twitter.com/46cyyqGJJy
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) January 4, 2026
As for the record-breaking sack itself, Garrett knew he had to time the snap well to get a jump on Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. He admitted he used a “tell” in Joe Burrow’s snap count to have the “best get-off” of his career to get the sack.
“That was a stereotypical sack for me. Getting off, doing the chop right into the dip. I was watching the clock. I knew the next time he gave a count, they were going. So I was just watching the ball as quickly as I could, and they had a couple other tells in their snap count… I probably had the best get-off I ever had trying to get that sack.”
Browns Myles Garrett said the record breaker was probably the best get-off he ever had. pic.twitter.com/TlFwtzeIXX
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) January 4, 2026
Garrett’s sack came with five minutes remaining in the game, on the Bengals’ second-to-last possession of the game. He received a standing ovation after the milestone achievement, despite playing on the road against an in-state rival.
After tearing through the league in October and November, Garrett needed just 1.5 sacks to break the NFL record over the Browns’ final three games. He logged just 0.5 sacks in Week 16 and went without one in Week 17, putting all the pressure on the final game of the year.
Garrett admitted to feeling “nervous” as the clock ticked down on his record-setting window.
“I can’t lie, I was nervous as hell,” Garrett said in his post-game interview. “I had a dream last night that I didn’t get it, and all the feelings that come with that. I woke up sweating and then I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to let that be my destiny.’ Just fighting like hell to not only rewrite history, but I feel like my own destiny.”
"I can't lie, I was nervous as hell."
Browns EDGE Myles Garrett on what he felt in the moment when he got his 23rd sack, a new NFL single-season record ...
