Numbers game: Myles Garrett has sights set on demolishing NFL season sacks record

BEREA — Myles Garrett doesn't want to just break the single-season sack record, which stands at 22.5.He wants to obliterate it, destroy it, put it out of reach.Rewrite history with a Sharpie.Shedeur Sanders grateful for 1st win, but not satisfied as he prepares for 2nd startNeeding just five sacks over the Browns' final six games to surpass the mark shared by Michael Strahan (2001) and T.J. Watt (2021), Garrett was asked Friday how badly he wants to etch his name at the top of that list."I don't even think about it as a want," said Garrett, who has a team-record 18 sacks while on a tear unlike any seen before. "I'm just thinking about something that we're going to knock down. It's already been written in my mind that it's going, it's just how far I'm going to take it."So just going to go out there, do what I do and whatever number I end up at."Does he have a number in mind?"Yeah," he said with an air of mystery and without revealing any digits. "It's written on my tape, so if y'all are fortunate enough to see it, then you all will know."So let your imaginations run wild, Browns fans. Garrett isn't setting any limits.At this point, his sky is boundless.Zone Coverage PodcastGarrett's season has grown from special to spectacular to, well, otherworldly.In his past five games, Garrett has recorded 14 sacks, which would lead the league and broke Strahan's record of 12.5. He's amassed 13 sacks over the last four weeks and is coming off a three-sack, four-tackles-for-loss, two-forced-fumbles game against the Las Vegas Raiders that earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.A 6-foot-4, 272-pound, chiseled, one-man wrecking crew.He's dominating on virtually every snap, and Garrett's exploits are not just being praised by coaches, Cleveland teammates, opponents and TV commentators searching for new adjectives, but by some of the game's greatest.On Sunday, Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor went on social media to praise Garrett."Ton of respect for how this dude goes about his business," Taylor posted. "He's been doing it on another level for a long time now. … here's only so many who truly alter gameplans and keep the other side up @ night. Keep doing your thing Myles !!!!"Game respecting game. L.T.'s shoutout warmed M.G."Hell of an honor," said Garrett, who broke Taylor's record of five consecutive 12-sack seasons with his sixth.Commentary: Nobody comes close to Myles Garrett on the football fieldFor Garrett to move any closer to the vaunted single-season mark Sunday, he'll have to get the best of San Francisco 49ers All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams. That won't be easy.Two years ago, Garrett was held without a sack against the Niners, who did a nice job of keeping quarterback Brock Purdy clean in Cleveland. Earlier this week, the massive Williams joked that he had lost sleep while thinking about this week's matchup against Garrett."He's one of the best to ever play and he has no weaknesses," Williams said.Garrett appreciated the compliment and tossed a few back."The man's a Hall of Famer," Garrett said of the 11-time Pro Bowler and 15-year veteran. "He's seen a whole bunch of great rushers along his time. I love the challenge. I know I haven't gotten Purdy and put him in the (Halloween) graveyard so we've got to make that happen and he's an obstacle and they're going to have other things that they throw my way."The 49ers will do everything in their power to protect Purdy, who has been slowed by a nagging toe injury this season and is coming off a three-interception performance in a sloppy win over Carolina on Monday.He's spent part of the week considering ways to avoid encountering Garrett."He's the best in the league at what he does and you have to have a game plan ready for him," Purdy said. "More than anything, understand I can't be holding onto the ball too long. Any quarterback could say that about him."It's going to be a good challenge for all of us, and I'm excited for our game plan to go in and compete. But across the board, their defense in general is really good. So, it's obviously 95, but the rest of the guys that they've got too, they're a really good squad."Garrett deservedly gets much of the praise, but he hasn't done it alone.Cleveland's vastly improved defense warrants recognition.The Browns enter the weekend ranked second in total defense (273 yards per game), second in pass defense (170.7 yards) and second in sacks (42) with 10 coming in a pre-Thanksgiving feast against the Raiders.Garrett is the first to acknowledge he has benefitted from the club's improved pass rush, especially the inside push by tackles Maliek Collins and Mason Graham, who force quarterbacks to move into harm's way and No. 95's path.If Garrett doesn't get to the QB on his initial rush, he can still land a sack with extra effort or if the secondary gives him more time."Not only is it us up front, but the guys on the backend taking away that first read, making them hitch, that helps tremendously as well," said Garrett, also leading the league with 28 tackles for loss. "So those guys making them step back or even unable to step up, that makes my job a lot easier."Graham hasn't been credited with his first career sack yet, but it's not for a lack of trying.As he waits for official sack No. 1, the rookie from Michigan is proud to be assisting Garrett any way he can."I always joke about it because I don't have a full sack yet," Graham said, smiling. "As long as it's going to a good cause. As long as he gets that, then I'm all cool with it."The post Numbers game: Myles Garrett has sights set on demolishing NFL season sacks record first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.