Dawgs By Nature
The NFL has a new single-season record holder for sacks, and he is a member of the Cleveland Browns.
During the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive end Myles Garrett brought down quarterback Joe Burrow for his 23rd sack of the season. Garrett now stands atop the record board as he surpassed Michael Strahan (22.5 sacks with the New York Giants in 2002) and T.J. Watt (22.5 sacks with the Steelers in 2021).
It was Garrett’s 13th career sack of Burrows and the 16th sack in 14 career games against the Bengals.
The record total strengthens Garrett’s candidacy for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award as well as his march to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Entering this season, Garrett had already established himself as Cleveland’s all-time leader in sacks with 102.5 and the single-season leader with 16, which he notched in both 2021 and 2022.
Garrett’s 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons are the first by a player since Lawrence Taylor hit the mark in five consecutive seasons with the New York Giants from 1985 to 1989. He is also just one of four players in league history to have four or more sacks in a game three times, joining Chandler Jones, Karl Mecklenburg, and Hall of Famer Reggie White.
Garrett is just one of 13 players with at least sacks in a season since the NFL made sacks an official stat in 1982. His 124.5 sacks in 133 career games are also an NFL record for most sacks recorded by a player before he turns 30, obliterating Reggie White’s record of 108. Garrett trails only White for most sacks in a player’s first nine seasons, as White had 137.
