Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns is authoring one of the most remarkable individual defensive campaigns in National Football League history. Yet, his pursuit of the hallowed single-season sack record is unfolding against the bleak backdrop of another lost season for his perpetually rebuilding franchise.
A Relentless Pursuit of History
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, Garrett has amassed 21.5 sacks through 14 games. This staggering pace projects him to finish with 26 sacks, which would comfortably eclipse the current record of 22.5, shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Strahan's mark stood for two decades, with Watt only equalling it in 2021, making Garrett's potential shattering of it all the more seismic.
"I don't even think about it as a want," Garrett stated before a Week 13 clash. "I just think about something that I'm going to knock down. It's already been written in my mind." His confidence is matched by a terrifying combination of physical gifts and technical prowess. According to Next Gen Stats, his average get-off time at the snap is a blistering 0.78 seconds, far quicker than the league average of 0.97.
Defying Context and Circumstance
What makes Garrett's season truly extraordinary is the context. Sack records are typically fuelled by favourable game situations: teams playing with leads force opponents into obvious passing downs. Garrett enjoys none of these advantages. The Browns' offence ranks last in the NFL, rarely providing a lead. Opponents can afford to run the ball and shorten games, limiting his opportunities.
Furthermore, he is the unequivocal focal point of every offensive coordinator's game plan. He faces a higher rate of double-teams and chips than almost any other defender, with only Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers drawing similar attention. Offences run away from him, use extra blockers, and call quick passes to nullify his impact. None of it has worked.
A telling statistic underscores his dominance. Among all 18-sack seasons, Reggie White's 1987 campaign had the lowest rate of team pass attempts per sack at 24.8. Garrett is currently operating at a historically lean 20.3 pass attempts per sack, a margin that redefines elite production.
The Stark Contrast of Team Failure
This historic individual brilliance is being tragically wasted. While Strahan set his record on a seven-win Giants team and Watt tied it on a playoff-bound Steelers side, Garrett's Browns have languished to just three wins. The defensive end, who turns 30 soon, watched a potential MVP season in 2023 end in playoff disappointment and now sees a potentially record-breaking 2025 dissolve into irrelevance by December.
His career arc is drawing uncomfortable comparisons to baseball's Mike Trout: an inner-circle, Hall of Fame talent whose prime years are being consumed by organisational failure and a glaring absence from the postseason stage. Garrett himself acknowledged this tension last offseason, requesting a trade from Cleveland in a bid to compete for a Super Bowl. "The goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton; it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl," he wrote.
However, a month later, he signed a record contract extension to stay. The decision prioritised financial security over immediate championship contention, anchoring him to the Browns' uncertain timeline.
A Franchise at a Crossroads
The situation presents a brutal dilemma for the Cleveland front office. If they cannot build a competent offence and find a long-term quarterback soon, Garrett's peak years will have been spent waiting for a rebuild that never crystallised. By the time the team is ready, his otherworldly powers may be on the wane.
This raises a stark question about resource management. Garrett's trade value may never be higher. A deal, perhaps to an NFC contender, could have netted a historic haul of draft capital, accelerating a true rebuild. Instead, the Browns are stuck in a cycle of wasting generational talent.
For now, Myles Garrett will spend the final weeks of the season chasing a place in the record books, a solitary pursuit of legacy on a team going nowhere. When he is inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, the Browns' win-loss record during his era will be a footnote. But one wonders if, given the choice today, he would trade the sack record for a legitimate shot at the Lombardi Trophy.
