It’s difficult to imagine a safer bet than Myles Garrett winning Defensive Player of the Week in Week 8. The Browns pass rusher didn’t just have the performance of the season, but one that cements him in the NFL history books, as Garrett finished his afternoon against New England with FIVE sacks, throwing in another tackle just for good measure.
Garrett becomes one of only 20 players in NFL history to have five-plus sacks in a game, joining legends of the NFL like Derrick Thomas, Fred Dean, and Howie Long — just to name a few. Somehow voters decided to give the honors to Jordyn Brooks of the Miami Dolphins.
Brooks had a great game, of that there’s no question. He finished with 10 tackles and a sack against the Falcons to give Miami its second win of the year. The only thing he didn’t manage to do was HAVE FIVE SACKS IN A SINGLE GAME.
There is an argument to make that the Browns didn’t win, so Brooks got some sort of a rub here — but that’s a very weak argument. Winning has never been a sufficient condition to earning individual player of the week honors before, and even if it was, there has to be some kind of exception when a player does something legendary on the field.
Typically this isn’t a problem. A standout individual performance like Garrett’s should be enough to see their team win, but the Browns are such a hopeless dumpster fire on offense that there’s nothing anyone can do about it — not even Myles Garrett.
The 32-13 scoreboard is definitely atrocious, but a few things to consider before decrying this as being somehow Garrett’s fault.
- The Patriots were held to 3/11 on third down … but the Browns were 2/11
- Dillon Gabriel took 35 pass attempts to gain 156 yards, while throwing two interceptions
- The Browns’ leading rusher had 31 yards
- Cleveland’s offensive efficiency was so bad they only had the ball for 23:48
Of course, there’s also the tilt here that the Browns were playing the AFC East-leading Patriots, and one of the league’s best young quarterbacks in Drake Maye.
Alas, none of it was enough. We’ve become so conditioned to Myles Garrett brilliance that five sacks in a game feels like “a good day at the office,” not “one of the greatest games of all time.” In the end none of it matters, not really. Garrett would have rather get a win than the award anyway, but it’s so dumb we even need to have this discussion.
