Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett needs big game against Bengals

Myles Garrett hasn’t been playing well dating back to the last half of his 2019 season.

Myles Garrett just signed a new contract making him the (in total contract value) 4th highest-paid defensive player in the league for 2020. Then the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens came and went and Garrett wasn’t just reduced to an average player on the field, he was an out and out non-factor. He had one tackle and a fumble recovery but fumble recoveries are more about luck than anything. It’s not like he caused the fumble, that was Larry Ogunjobi.

Garrett vanished and wasn’t seen at all in that game.

The problem is, Garrett’s disappearance act against the Ravens is actually a continuation of his poor play to close out 2019. Going back to the last three games in 2019, Garrett had similar stats. Just five tackles, no sacks, and was a complete non-factor across all of them. The team’s record? 2-1.

In fact, of his 10 sacks last season, Garrett had six of them in his first three games, and only had four sacks in his last six games of the season. He also had 40% of his tackles in the first three games as well. Garrett’s been off-kilter for some time now. This can’t be blamed on how his season ended. More than likely, if there is something up with Garrett, it may have been a contributing factor to how his season ended.

If Garrett completely falls apart again, for the fifth straight game, it might be time to start asking why? Across two seasons, this many games in, why would Garrett be such a non-factor? Garrett did ponder retirement in the offseason, is he not as committed to playing pro football as the Browns need him to be?

It’s possible that Garrett racks up five sacks and 10 tackles against the Bengals (even one sack and four tackles would be a huge leap in production), so by no means is it time to worry about moving on from Garrett. This seems more psychological than physical.

As a $100 million player, however, you don’t get to have five straight games where you don’t matter. Not after you just got a giant contract extension.