Myles Garrett was a tour de force with 4 1/2 sacks of Justin Fields in the former Buckeye star's NFL debut. (Cleveland Browns)
Myles Garrett puts his words into action with 4 ½ sacks in 26-6 rout of the Bears
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Myles Garrett spoke out on Friday, and then balled out on Sunday.
Garrett risked ruffling some feathers by calling out his defensive line teammates for not giving him enough help when he’s double-teamed. Instead of getting mad, they took his words to heart and the result was a pass-rush assault on poor Justin Fields that left you covering your eyes at times.
Garrett set a franchise record with 4 ½ sacks and his teammates contributed 4 ½ more as Fields, the former Ohio State star quarterback, suffered an NFL debut to forget.
The Browns rode their fired-up defense to a 26-6 win over the Chicago Bears – the most lopsided victory in the coach Kevin Stefanski era – lifting coordinator Joe Woods off the hot seat and onto the granite steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
“That is how it is supposed to be. You are supposed to work in tandem, and that is what it looked like today,” said Garrett, who had only one sack in his first two games.
The defense kept the athletic Fields from leaving the pocket. The times he tried he ran into sacks. The Browns hit Fields 15 times total and limited him to 68 yards on 6 of 20 passing. When you subtract the sack yardage of 67, Fields produced exactly 1 net yard passing.
Fields, who won 20 of 22 games at Ohio State, said he never had a day like this at any level of football. He was X-rayed for a hand injury (negative) after the game.
“I am not used to this,” he said, downcast. “I do not like feeling like this. Literally, while I am saying this I am getting goosebumps because I just don’t like feeling like this. I am just going to get back and I am going to work. That is it.”
Stung by the reality of owning the NFL’s worst third-down defense through two games, the Browns made stops on 10 of 11 third downs and yielded 47 net yards on 42 plays.
The only things the defense didn’t do was get a turnover or score. Safety John Johnson did make an interception, but it was taken away when he was called for pass interference for pushing off receiver Allen Robinson.
“We need to start taking it away and scoring,” Garrett said. “That’s coming.”
Naturally, Stefanski downplayed the effect of Garrett’s end-of-week rant about needing help from his teammates.
“I do not think it had any effect,” the coach said. “Myles is a great player. He is a team leader. We are going to need him to be great. He was great today.”
Joining the sack attack was Jadeveon Clowney with two and safety Ronnie Harrison with one. Three players were credited with sharing a sack – linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who had his finest game to date; tackle Malik Jackson and end Takk McKinley.
Garrett didn’t want to dwell on his Friday speech after enjoying perhaps his best game with the Browns. He was serenaded with chants of “My-les, Gar-rett” late in the game and said it was a moment “I’ll remember for a long time.”
“I needed to be there myself,” Garrett said of his public plea to his teammates. “There is no excuse that I am getting chipped. I have to go out there and make plays and have to find a way to be effective and produce, as well. They stepped up to the challenge. Knew who was coming in here was a great defense and a budding young quarterback who was hungry. We stepped up to the plate, and we knocked it out of the park.”
The defense was so dominant, the offense didn’t even need to be at its best to produce the largest margin of victory in 19 regular-season games under Stefanski.
Fact is, Chicago’s defense was stymieing the Browns’ run game and Baker Mayfield well into the third quarter.
But a really good two-minute drive at the end of the first half resulted in a 13-yard TD toss to tight end Austin Hooper and a 10-3 lead at halftime. And then Kareem Hunt’s 29-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the fourth quarter turned the game into a rout.
Hunt led the Browns in total yards with 81 rushing and 74 receiving. Nick Chubb was held to 3.8 per rush and totaled 84 yards on 22 attempts. When all was said and done, the stat sheet showed the Browns with 215 yards on the ground, counting four Mayfield keepers and an end-around for 10 yards by Odell Beckham Jr.
Oh, yeah, OBJ. His first game back since he tore his left ACL on Oct. 25 was a profound success.
Mayfield misfired high for Beckham on the second play of the game, but came right back and connected for a 13-yard completion and first down. Beckham played more than half of the offense’s 78 snaps and by the end of the day resolved concerns about the health of his surgically repaired knee and his chemistry with Mayfield.
Mayfield connected with Beckham for 26 yards on a perfect back-shoulder throw on which Beckham toe-tapped along the right sideline. He also had completions of 16 and 15 yards to Beckham. In all, Beckham was 5 for 9 on targets for 77 yards.
“It was a lot to take in today,” said Beckham, who added it was the most exhausted he’d ever felt in an NFL game. “I just felt I could never get my legs going. It is hard for me to sit out, but any time I need a break, I was not hesitant to take it. I pushed it, but I gave everything I could for today.”
Chicago’s strong defensive front kept this game close for a half. Mayfield, who entered the game completing an astounding 40 of 49 passes through two games, was held to 19 of 31 passing for 246 yards and was sacked five times. Three of his completions were perfectly executed screens to Hunt, who was a force whenever he touched the ball.
“Just the look in his eye, everybody could tell the way he was running,” Mayfield said. “It seemed angry – angrier than usual. When that happens, just find a way to get him the ball.”
Garrett wasn’t the only player to etch his name in the Browns’ record book. Kicker Chase McLaughlin was 4 for 4 on field goals, including one from 57 yards. It was the third-longest field goal in the team’s history and the longest by a Browns kicker in FirstEnergy Stadium.
