Mike Tomlin waxed poetically about his Pittsburgh Steelers‘ upcoming opponent as he usually does during his weekly press conference. He highlighted defensive end Myles Garrett more than any other Cleveland Browns player and for good reason — through nine games, he’s put on a show worthy of Defensive Player of the Year.
MVP, however, is a long shot, as it typically is for defensive players.
Either way, Tomlin is indifferent.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m not into voting,” Tomlin answered when asked why it’s tough for a defensive player to win MVP.
What he does care about is how Garrett — ahem, “Mr. Garrett” — performs against his offense on Sunday.
“Mr. Garrett is having a special season. He needs no endorsement from me. All you got to do is watch the Cleveland Browns play. Oftentimes he is the guy making the significant play in terms of determining the outcome of games and so that is his resume.
“We don’t need to add to it. I’m sure we’ll work hard all week not to, but I’m sure that everybody that plays them does. You turn on the tape, man.”
Garrett, averaging one sack per game with 11 total on the season, could finish with a career-sack year. Dan Moore has his work cut out for him, but held him to zero sacks in Week 2. Through 11 career games against Pittsburgh, Garrett’s logged seven sacks, 24 tackles (eight for loss), 16 quarterback hits, two passes defended and three forced fumbles.
“That’s what guys like him do. We know that we’re not going to rediscover that this weekend in stadium. We already know it and so we kind of prepare him with that understanding, but as I mentioned, man, he is not a one man gang.”
Cleveland has the league’s top defense, allowing just 242 yards per game to opposing offenses. And while Pittsburgh has one of the worst overall defenses in the league, allowing 350 yards per game, it’s allowed 17 touchdowns to Cleveland’s 21.
