The Cleveland Browns have lost their third straight game (this time at the hands of the New England Patriots), and the defense gave up over 30 points in back-to-back weeks. This has put this side of the football under a microscope, specifically the Browns’ All-Pro pass rusher in Myles Garrett.
For back-to-back weeks, Garrett has come under fire from the fanbase for not doing enough. At this point, these Garrett film rooms are going to become a weekly occurrence to dispute or confirm any claim made against him.
Here we will look at how Garrett is analytically viewed, how he looked as a pass rusher, and how he faired as a run defender as well.
An analytical view of Myles Garrett vs. Patriots
He is PFF’s highest-grade pass rusher through six weeks in 2022 and graded out with a spectacular 93.9 grade on the day. This is the second time in the young season that Garrett has graded out over 90 according to PFF.
Coming into the week, Garrett had the lead of the most double-teams of all defensive ends while still boasting a top-four pass rush win rate. We will have to wait and see where he falls after this Week 6 slate of games. He has been elite again this season, even if he is not chasing the football. Solo tackles are a poor metric to use to evaluate someone’s impact on the football field.
Time for win rate charts through 5 weeks!
Double team rate at edge (x) by pass rush win rate at edge (y).
-Micah Parsons has taken back the PRWR at edge crown by half a percentage point.
-Huge week from Bradley Chubb puts him in upper echelon. pic.twitter.com/mpSKikVWlG
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 13, 2022
Despite how every single data analyst, film analyst, and metric outside of Cleveland feel about Garrett (and they all think he is elite), there are many within the fanbase for which he plays that continue to ring the bell of underrating this team’s best player.
We dive into the film next and evaluate how he looked against the pass against the Patriots.
Myles Garrett continues to rack up pressures
Garrett was all over the backfield all game and was credited with eight pressures on the day. This gives him 28 on the season, putting him fourth in the NFL while missing a game, and just three pressures behind Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons. Finishing the game with two sacks, Garrett now has five on the season, putting him just a sack and a half out from the league leader in just five games.
Perhaps I am wrong here, but consistent 15+ sack seasons are considered elite production. And as Garrett is coming off of a 16-sack season, he is on pace for 16 more in 2022.
He is executing hump moves, hitting blockers with spin moves, club/rips, and long arms. The arsenal that Garrett put in display, not to mention his alien-like bend at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, allowed him to virtually take what he wanted on reps where he was not doubled.
With a massive eight pressures, two sacks, and a forced fumble on the day, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue to point the finger at Garrett.
Yes, Garrett is a sound run defender
This notion that Garrett is not a good run defender or a one-trick pony is almost as egregious as New England’s attempt to block him on Sunday. The misconception about Garrett’s run defense comes when looking at his box score and how many tackles he has amassed in 2022. As stern, as one can address this, solo tackles are a horrid and miscalculated way to evaluate a player’s impact against the run.
Garrett continues to play sound football against the run, fitting the gaps that need to be fit, and containing the edges that need to be contained. The All-Pro does not get his eyes locked on the football and does not chase ball carriers. This is a good thing.
He funnels action back inside when playing the frontside edge, and contains cutbacks when tasked with backside duties.
Final Thoughts on Garrett vs. Patriots
Quite frankly, Garrett put this team on his back against the Patriots and stepped up when the moment needed him. Not only did he force the only turnover of the game with a strip sack of Zappe, but came up huge on a third down sack with six minutes left in the game after (and before) a special teams blunder cost the offense a possession.
With eight pressures on the game, Garrett is only three pressures below Micah Parsons and Nick Bosa for the most in the league despite missing a game as well. He is sound against the run, elite as a pass rusher, and has become nothing more than the target of misplaced anger due to the failures on the defensive side of the football.
And he is doing all of this on an evidently tender shoulder as well. Perhaps the greatness of Garrett’s play has grown stale due to how repetitive it has been in Cleveland, but what he does week-in-and-week-out is elite. One would be hard-pressed to find an analyst or metric outside of Cleveland who would disagree with that.
We are witnessing greatness every week from Garrett. As the Browns are going against one of the better pass-blocking teams in the NFL in the Baltimore Ravens, so they will once again need a super-human effort from Garrett to get to a 2-0 start in the division.
