Tracking Myles Garrett’s place in the NFL record books: S...

Tracking Myles Garrett’s place in the NFL record books: Single-season sack record just aheadStory by

Barry ShuckTue, December 2, 2025 at 3:14 PM UTC·5 min read

The NFL keeps all sorts of statistics. The league thrives on it, even the Cleveland Browns poor play since “The Return.” Future contracts are usually generated by pluses and minuses for each position and can add millions to a deal, or take them away.

RELATED: GARRETT NFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN 2025?

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Then, there are the league records. Because an entity is so dependent upon numbers for just about everything, records set as a member of the NFL are just part of the allure.

In all sports, to own a record that is then etched into a book and stored there is an honor. Even if it sits for only one season, and then is broken, the former record-bearer has forever bragging rights that at one time, he or she had the record for such-and-such.

Some records will never be broken.

Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles and the record for 2,632 consecutive games played. Hockey’s 2,857 career points set by the “Great One,” Wayne Gretzky. “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s college career average of 44.2 points per game. The 23 gold medals Michael Phelps has won at the Olympics. Jerry Rice’s 22,895 career receiving yards. 100 points scored in a single NBA game by Wilt Chamberlain.

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And the one record that appeared safe on the defensive side of the ball in the NFL was the record of 22.5 sacks in a single NFL season.

And here we are. On the cusp of that record being not only broken, but shattered like a pair of cops breaking a sovereign citizen’s car window.

Myles Garrett of the Browns has the opportunity to destroy the record held by Michael Strahan of the New York Football Giants, and then tied by T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He currently leads the NFL with 19.0 sacks.

At the rate he is going, he is set to finish the 2025 season with 27 sacks. Of course, Strahan’s record was broken in 2002, in the final game of the 2001 season. Teams played just 16 games back then. This means Garrett has an extra game in which to aid his journey.

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Watt tied the record in the final game of the 2021 season. The Steelers finished 9-7-1 that year, meaning he also had the benefit of an extra game. Otherwise, he would not have tied Strahan’s record.

Garrett also leads the league in tackles for loss (28) and pressures (36). He is a good run defender and has only one missed tackle all season.

Garrett is well aware of the record. In each game, he wears tape on his wrists like most defensive and offensive linemen. On his wrist tape, he scribbles a number. That is his prediction for how many sacks he is expecting from that contest.

He recently said:

“I don’t even think about (the record) as a want — I just think about it as something that I’m going to knock down. It’s already been written in my mind that it’s going (down). It’s just how far I’m going to take it.”

He is just the third player in NFL history to have 16 or more sacks in three different seasons, joining “The Minister of Defense” Reggie White and T.J.’s brother J.J. Watt.

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Whether Garrett breaks the record or comes close, he appears to be the leading candidate for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award, which would be his second. But his coach, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, believes that Garrett should also be crowned the league MVP. He has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 12.

Schwartz was quoted in The Athletic:

“I’m not a voter. I don’t really know what goes into all those things, (but) I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a more valuable player in the NFL. “Myles had five sacks in one game, four sacks in another, a bunch of tackles for losses, really dominating play. When you’re talking about most valuable player, it’s tough to keep him out of that conversation.”

The last player to capture the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award on a losing team was DE Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins in 2006.

With five games remaining, does Garrett have a chance of breaking a record that at one time appeared to be set for life?

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Here at Dawgs by Nature, we wanted to see what the remaining clubs look like as far as how many sacks they have allowed, who their right tackle is that will line up in front of Garrett, what their Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass blocking grade is, and how many sacks that player has given up this season.

Editor’s note: In Week 1 against Cincinnati, Garrett had two sacks. Against the Steelers in Week 6, he had zero sacks.

Looking at the games left on the schedule, the next one against the Tennessee Titans could become very fruitful for Garrett. Their offensive line has allowed the most sacks in the league. Garrett needs just 3.5 sacks to tie the record.

He had five sacks against the New England Patriots, four in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and three in the win over the Las Vegas Raiders. He might conceivably set the record against the Titans this weekend and be done with it. Then it would just be a matter of how much he pads the new record to make it more difficult for the next great EDGE rusher.