Browns Star Myles Garrett Delivers Warning to Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers
Myles Garrett is ready to start carving a tombstone for Aaron Rodgers as the Cleveland Browns gear up for their matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Garrett has more than 100 career sacks but has
Garrett brings out his infamous quarterback graveyard at Halloween, featuring headstones of quarterbacks he’s sacked — from Joe Burrow to Lamar Jackson. He’s ready to add the four-time MVP, whom he has a lot of respect for.
“He’s a great one,” Garrett said Friday. “He’ll probably get propped up a little bit higher than some of the others. But yeah. I’d be honored to put him in the graveyard, and definitely a lot of respect for what he’s done in his career, because he’s special.”
Garrett already has quite a list of quarterbacks in the graveyard. He has a hard time narrowing it down to a top five.
“I’m sure Pat (Mahomes) will be on there. Ben (Roethlisberger) would be on there. (Tom) Brady would be on there. Let’s see, I think one day (Justin) Herbert will be in there. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer one day, but after that, I don’t know. Hell, I don’t remember all the names I’ve sacked. I’m just worried about the next one.”
Browns DE Myles Garrett Looking to Get Back on Track
Garrett has four sacks this season but has been held without one the last two weeks. Part of that has been opponents implementing a quick passing game in an attempt to neutralize Garrett. He has a solution.
“Win quicker,” Garrett said. “At end of the day, if they’re going to throw the ball quick, then we’ve got to win quick. We’ve got to put his offensive line in his lap, got to make him uncomfortable with sitting right there in the pocket, not sitting back. And eventually we’re going to start taking away those short throws, those short intermediates. So there’ll be opportunities to make plays. We’ve just got to make sure it’s there. Third-and-longs, he can’t be settling for less. So we’ve got to put him in those situations.”
Rodgers has seen just about everything in his two-plus decades in the NFL — and he doesn’t hand out praise lightly. When it comes to Garrett, though, the veteran quarterback didn’t hesitate.
“Myles is a Hall of Famer,” Rodgers said. “He might not be in yet, but that’s where he’s going. He’s one of the few players in the league, over my 21 years, that you gameplan for and you watch the film, every team has a plan.”
Myles Garrett, Browns Looking to Change Fortunes in Pittsburgh
The Browns head into the matchup with the Steelers at 1-4 and in desperate need of a win. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened often for the Browns in Pittsburgh
“Winning in general would mean a lot. Doesn’t matter where it is or who it is. Right now we need to get a win desperately, and there’s got to be a sense of urgency with everybody,” Garrett said. “Now, is there some history behind it? I’m sure but behind any win or loss you can go back and find, but we want to beat these guys and there’s definitely layers to it, but the most basic of that is we need one.”
The Browns are a 6.5-point underdog on the road for the matchup.
Phillies had no answer as Dodgers managed their biggest weakness perfectly
The Philadelphia Phillies had a path to win the National League Division Series before it began. The Los Angeles Dodgers came in as the defending World Series champions, but they had holes in their roster as much as anyone else. They had a leaky bullpen going into the playoffs, but you wouldn't know it with how well the Dodgers managed their bullpen throughout the four games.
The Dodgers' bullpen was the part of the roster the Phillies' offense had to get to in order to succeed. As long as the Phillies could hang in against the Dodgers' starting pitching, they'd have a chance in the later innings. The Dodgers made adjustments with a shortened playoff series and outlasted the Phillies to win the series.
Dodgers managed their bullpen to perfection in NLDS to shut down Phillies
The top of the lineup had to apply pressure for the Phillies to have a chance in the series, but they instead made the eight runs they scored in Game 3 look more like a fluke. In Game 4, the top three hitters of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper sang a familiar tune, going a combined 1-for-14. As a team, they only scratched across four hits total. The Dodgers' bullpen came out on top in the end.
In the regular season, the Dodgers' bullpen ranked 21st with a bullpen ERA of 4.27. Ironically enough, they finished tied with the Phillies. They also had a 10.38 ERA over the two Wild Card games against a Cincinnati Reds offense that didn't impose any substantial threat. The Dodgers learned from that and approached things differently once they played the Phillies.
The Dodgers barely used traditional relievers for the entire four-game NLDS. They leaned heavily on extra starters to get the job done, and unfortunately, it worked to perfection. The one thing that few teams in MLB can go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers on is the depth of their starting rotation.
Roki Sasaki, a rookie who sported a 4.46 ERA across 10 games (eight starts) this season, was moved to the bullpen for the playoffs. He proceeded to throw 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Phillies, including three perfect innings in the clinching Game 4.
The Dodgers also deployed Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan out of the bullpen, limiting any threat the Phillies thought they could muster late in games. The only real success the Phillies had against the Dodgers' bullpen was facing 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw when he was hung out to dry in Game 3 and against Blake Treinen, who they scored twice against in Game 2 but ultimately fell one run short of a comeback.
The beauty and agony of a short playoff series is that every moment is amplified. Every game means more, and as a result, teams manipulate their pitching staffs to minimize any weakness. The Dodgers did it well and showed the Phillies the door in another early playoff exit.
