The Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-6 on Sunday in one of the more surprising results of Week 17. For those who watched the game, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said what everyone was thinking.
"To an extent, they were more worried about keeping me away from Aaron (Rodgers) than getting the win. That’s what came back to bite them", said Garrett following the game.
The Steelers quite literally lost the game because Rodgers didn't want to be a footnote in Garrett's history. Garrett still needs one full sack to break the single-season record and half of a sack to tie it. That record is currently held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.
As a result, the Steelers' offense was stagnant and managed to put just two field goals on the board in an embarrassing loss on the road. Now, the Steelers face a Baltimore Ravens team that just had Derrick Henry rush for over 200 yards against the Green Bay Packers. The league has moved it to the Sunday Night Football spot in Week 18 in a winner-take-all scenario in which the loser gets to watch the playoffs from their recliners.
The Steelers could have avoided all of this and clinched the division title on Sunday had they not been so worried about Garrett getting the record against them. What you saw was Rodgers complete barely over half of his pass attempts in this game by rushing throws and throwing the ball away to avoid No. 95.
The Steelers should have won the division already. This is clearly a down year for the Ravens, who could back into the postseason with Lamar Jackson maybe not even playing.
The Steelers already beat the Ravens once this year, in Baltimore. But tiebreakers have kept the door open for the Ravens. Then the Packers allowed Henry to run wild at Lambeau Field. Now, Garrett has scared Rodgers from being attached to potential history and the door is suddenly wide open for a Ravens team, that isn't very good, to run right through it.
Garrett may set the all-time sack record next week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow probably won't care if he's a footnote in that history or not. Meanwhile, the Steelers are flirting with missing the playoffs for just the second time in the last six seasons by having to play in a game that should never have mattered.
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