There may be very little on the line from a team standpoint when the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals wrap up their seasons in Week 18. However, NFL history will be on everyone’s mind as Myles Garrett gets one last chance to break the single-season sacks record.
With 22.0 sacks, Garrett needs just one more to surpass the record of 22.5, which is shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Garrett has been on the verge for the past two games, but has just one-half sack to show for it.
Garrett failed to get a sack in Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Afterward, it was thought that Pittsburgh was more focused on preventing him from breaking the record than actually winning the game.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow may have had that in mind when he got honest about Garrett’s potential sack record coming against him.
“I’m certainly not gonna overcompensate either way. I’m not gonna go out of my way to not let him get the record, and I’m not gonna go out of my way to let him get the record, either,” Burrow said. “There’s gonna be situations that a sack is the best of the bad outcomes of that play and maybe I take one. There’s gonna be other situations that I’m about to get sacked and I need to throw it away in that situation.”
Joe Burrow on Myles Garrett’s quest for the single-season sack record.
“There are going to be situations where a sack is the best of the bad outcomes of that play.” pic.twitter.com/RuPaiDVl4R
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 31, 2025
Sacks have been an official NFL statistic only since 1982, so there is a complicated history when it comes to the record. When Strahan set a new mark with the New York Giants in 2001, it came on a play when Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre looked to have taken a dive to let him have it.
Also, Steelers star Watt was able to tie the record playing in just 15 games of the NFL’s first 17-game season (2021). Strahan accomplished it playing all of a 16-game schedule, and Garrett is about to play his 17th game of this season.
Yet, if Garrett is able to bring Burrow down to tie or break the record, it will be an accomplishment worth celebrating.
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