Browns’ Myles Garrett breaks NFL sack record

CINCINNATI — Cleveland Browns All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 5:09 remaining during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Garrett sacked Joe Burrow for a six-yard loss on first-and-10 at the Browns 45-yard line. Burrow was in the shotgun formation when he saw Garrett coming and went down.

Garrett came into the game needing one sack to surpass the mark of 22½ shared by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan (in 2001 with the New York Giants) and Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt in 2021.

The sack in some ways was similar to Strahan’s record-breaking sack of Green Bay’s Brett Favre. Both players didn’t put up much of a challenge when they saw an oncoming pass rusher.

Garrett’s teammates celebrated his 23rd sack even though Cincinnati tried to go no-huddle on the next play.

Garrett has sacked 51 players over his nine-year NFL career. Burrow is at the top of the list at 12 in 10 meetings.

The NFL did not start counting sacks as an official statistic until 1982. Mark Gastineau of the New York Jets had 22 in 1984 until Strahan surpassed that late in the fourth quarter of the New York Giants’ 2001 season finale against Green Bay. Favre went down to the ground as Strahan was approaching to set the mark. Watt tied the record during the final game in 2021 at Baltimore by taking down Ravens QB Tyler Huntley.

Garrett has recorded at least half a sack in 11 of 12 games including Sunday. That includes a team-record five against the New England Patriots on Oct. 26, four against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 14 and three one week later at Las Vegas.