Myles Garrett Broke the NFL Sack Record. Can It Survive 2026?
Myles Garrett needed one sack to own NFL history. Cincinnati spent almost an entire game trying to make sure he never got it.
Myles Garrett entered the final game of the 2025 regular season needing one sack to make NFL history.
Just one.
WATCH VIDEO: EVERY Sack from Myles Garrett’s 23 Sack Season
That sounds simple until an entire offense spends the afternoon treating you like a football-shaped natural disaster.
The Cincinnati Bengals knew exactly what Garrett wanted. Their blockers were ready. Their tight ends were ready. Their running backs were ready. If the stadium had been allowed to send someone down from the stands to help protect Joe Burrow, Cincinnati might have considered it.
Still, with Cleveland’s season almost over and the record beginning to look painfully out of reach, Garrett finally got his opportunity. Late in the fourth quarter, he brought down Burrow and claimed the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23.
It was a historic play, but the numbers surrounding it make Garrett’s achievement even more remarkable.
| Garrett’s historic season | Number |
|---|---|
| Sacks | 23 |
| Previous NFL record | 22.5 |
| Browns opponent pass plays | 540 |
| Most sacks in one game | 5 |
| Quarter in which he broke the record | Fourth |
| Record-breaking victim | Joe Burrow |
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It Took Until Almost Final Minutes
Garrett began the game tied with Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt at 22.5 sacks.
Strahan established the record with the New York Giants in 2001. Watt matched it for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021. Garrett had already joined two of the most feared pass rushers in NFL history, but a half-sack would not give him the record outright.
For most of the afternoon, Cincinnati refused to cooperate.
Garrett later said he rarely received a genuine one-on-one opportunity on a clear passing play. Every snap became its own miniature escort mission: find No. 95, place several human beings in his path and hope Burrow releases the ball before something unpleasant happens.
The strategy nearly worked.
Garrett did not get his sack in the first quarter. Or the second. Or the third.
He finally broke through in the fourth quarter, taking down Burrow during Cleveland’s 20-18 victory. The Browns’ season had been reduced to its final handful of meaningful snaps, yet the biggest individual record of the year was still undecided.
Then Garrett ended the chase himself.
The 17-Game Argument Does Not Work Here
Whenever a modern NFL player breaks a longstanding counting record, the same objection appears: the season is longer now.
That argument deserves consideration. Strahan played 16 games when he recorded 22.5 sacks in 2001. Garrett played 17 games to reach 23.
But the deeper numbers make an asterisk difficult to defend.
According to NFL Research, opposing offenses ran approximately 567 pass plays against Strahan’s Giants in 2001. Watt faced 557 pass plays during the 15 games he played in 2021.
Garrett reached 23 sacks across 540 opponent pass plays.
In other words, Garrett played one more regular-season game than Strahan but apparently had fewer opportunities to attack the quarterback.
He did not simply hang around for an extra Sunday until the record surrendered. He broke it while dealing with the sort of attention usually reserved for celebrities, presidents and unattended bags at airports.
Joe Burrow Became Part of History Again
It felt fitting that Burrow was the quarterback Garrett tackled for the record.
Before that final meeting, Garrett had already sacked Burrow 11 times during his career. Only Lamar Jackson had been taken down by Garrett as often.
The record-breaking sack pushed Burrow ahead on a list no quarterback wants to lead.
Garrett’s 2025 collection of victims was extensive. It included Burrow, Jackson, Josh Allen, Drake Maye, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Geno Smith, Tua Tagovailoa, Caleb Williams, Justin Fields and Cam Ward.
That is not a list of struggling backup quarterbacks who wandered onto the field by accident. It is a cross-section of established stars, former first-round selections and rising young players.
Garrett did not build the record against one weak opponent. He spread the damage around.
His Five-Sack Game Was Almost Excessive
The record was not the product of quietly collecting one sack every week.
Garrett occasionally turned games into personal demolition projects.
Against New England, he recorded five sacks. That is more than some teams manage across several games. He added four against Baltimore and three against Las Vegas.
During those performances, an NFL game briefly became a repetitive sketch:
- The offense snapped the ball.
- The quarterback looked downfield.
- Garrett arrived without an invitation.
- Everyone reset and tried again.
The remarkable part was that opponents knew where he would be. Garrett was not hiding behind a complicated disguise. He lined up on the defensive front wearing No. 95, surrounded by coaches and players who had spent the week discussing how to stop him.
Then he reached the quarterback anyway.
Garrett Did It Without Ideal Conditions
Elite pass rushers usually benefit when their teams take the lead. Opponents abandon the running game, quarterbacks attempt more passes, and defenders can attack without worrying as much about misdirection.
Garrett did not consistently enjoy that luxury in 2025.
Cleveland endured a difficult season and was frequently playing from behind. That meant opponents could remain patient, run the ball, and avoid the obvious passing situations that allow edge rushers to hunt quarterbacks.
Garrett still recorded 23 sacks.
That context separates his season from a simple accumulation of numbers. He was the player every opponent feared most, operating in situations that did not always favor him, and he still broke one of football’s most celebrated defensive records.
Can Garrett’s Sack Record Survive 2026?
The record will immediately become a target during the 2026 NFL season, but breaking it would require an extraordinary campaign.
A defender would need at least 23.5 sacks to move ahead of Garrett. Across a 17-game season, that means averaging nearly 1.4 sacks every week while remaining healthy and productive despite increasing attention from opposing offenses.
Garrett’s own season showed how difficult that is. He needed a five-sack performance against New England, four sacks against Baltimore and three against Las Vegas to reach 23. Even after those explosive games, the chase continued until the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s final matchup.
Garrett could be one of the biggest threats to his own record in 2026. However, once a defender produces a historic season, every opponent enters the next meeting with an even more aggressive protection plan.
The NFL now has an extra regular-season game compared with Strahan’s era, but additional opportunities do not guarantee additional sacks. Injuries, quicker passing attacks, double-teams and quarterbacks who escape pressure can derail a record chase quickly.
For now, 23 remains the number everyone is pursuing, and surviving the 2026 season would make Garrett’s achievement look even more impressive.
Now the Record Belongs to Him
Strahan’s record lasted two decades before Watt tied it. Garrett needed four more years to move the number forward.
The new standard is 23.
Perhaps the funniest thing about NFL records is how permanent they feel right before someone breaks them. For years, 22.5 looked almost untouchable. Then Watt reached it. Then Garrett passed it.
A future defender may eventually record 23.5 or even 24 sacks. The NFL’s longer schedule and increasingly pass-heavy offenses ensure that Garrett’s record will always have challengers.
But they will still have to do what he did: beat double-teams, survive an entire season of extra attention, and reach the quarterback even when everyone in the stadium knows exactly what is coming.
Garrett needed one final sack to stand alone. The Bengals made him wait almost all day for it, but he got it anyway. Now the entire NFL has a season to answer one question: Can anyone reach 23.5?
