The Bears haven’t seen anyone like the Browns’ star defensive end this season.
“Myles Garrett is a monster,” receiver Darnell Mooney said.
“He’s a freak,” guard Teven Jenkins said.
“He’s one of the freak of the freaks,” said tight end Cole Kmet.
If Garrett records 2 ½ sacks in his 98th career game Sunday — and he’s done almost double that damage against the Bears before — he’ll become just the third player since the sack became an official statistic in 1982 to reach 90 in fewer than 100 games. The others: Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White (82) and future Hall of Famer T.J. Watt (98).
He does it with unique athleticism at a position that, increasingly, attracts some of the best athletes on the planet.
“Bending at the top of the rush like he’s not 280 [pounds], getting off the ball like he’s 230,” Bears defensive end Montez Sweat said. “Pretty [bleeping] good.”
Pro Football Focus considers Garrett the second-best overall edge defender in the sport. The Bears have faced others in their top five this year — the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby, with his ironman endurance and rare motor, and the Chargers’ Khalil Mack, whose brute strength is still elite, left tackle Braxton Jones said.
Garrett’s best trait is how he turns the corner at full speed while staying as low as possible. No one else can do that at 6-foot-4 and 272 pounds.
“His bend’s just way different than anybody else’s … ” Jones said. “It’s how well he can still move from bending — most guys attempt to bend and get pulled off the spot. … You’ve got to be flexible, you got to be strong, and then you have to have the core strength to go through that moment.”
That athleticism allows the Browns to move him all over the line — and beyond. Garrett typically rushes from the right side but can move inside on obvious pass downs. He’s rushed from the inside linebacker spot, too, recording a sack on a blitz in Week 1.
Garrett has 13 sacks this season. For the first time all season, though, he’s gone two consecutive games without one. After Sunday’s win against the Jaguars, he called officiating “awful,” saying the Jaguars offensive line got away with holding, false starts and hands-to-the-face penalties.
“There’s nothing he can’t do,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “He’s got every facet of a defensive lineman that you would want. The guy can play nose guard, three-technique, end. He can stand up and be an edge rusher, an outside linebacker.
“He’s got every trait that you really want. He’s a pretty incredible player.”
Getsy needs to create equally unique ways to deal with Garrett, whom PFF grades as the best pass rusher at his position. It’s not as simple as rolling quarterback Justin Fields away from Garrett’s side of the field, either: Za’Darius Smith, who plays opposite Garrett, is 15th.
Faced with scheming for the blitz-happy Vikings, Getsy had Fields throw shorter, quicker passes than at any point in his career. It was ugly, and didn’t produce more than four field goals, but the Bears won.
Getsy doesn’t figure to go to such extremes Sunday, but Garrett’s versatility only complicates things. Fields said the Bears have to plan around what Garrett does well — “which is pretty much everything.”
Fields has seen it up close. In Week 3 of 2021, Garrett sacked the Bears quarterback 4 ½ times in a 26-6 blowout loss, with the Browns totaling nine sacks. He finished with 1 net passing yard.
Garrett told Browns reporters this week that he expects to see a different quarterback.
“[Fields] and that entire offense has evolved — his timing, his pocket presence, figuring out when he needs to run and he needs to pass,” Garrett said. “Looking at his reads, if he doesn’t see it, he’s going to use his legs. Last time we played he was trying to stay in the pocket … and now he kinda has that feel.”
When he runs, Garrett said, he reminds him of the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts. But the Browns defensive end seemed to be aware of Fields’ weakness, too — since the start of last season, no NFL player has fumbled more.
“He’ll be difficult to take down,” Garrett said. “The best way to take somebody down — the easy way — is to take the ball from him.”
