As DE Myles Garrett broke past Raiders TE Ian Thomas, he fought past OL Stone Forsythe to bring down QB Geno Smith for his first of three sacks in Week 12. Then in the fourth quarter, Garrett beat Forsythe and RB Ashton Jeanty to bring down Smith for his second sack of the day — his fourth multi-sack game of the season and third in the last four games.
Garrett completed a hat trick with his third sack late in the fourth quarter, as he maneuvered past Forsythe once again to come around the edge and force a strip sack. The ball popped out of Smith's hands, and DT Maliek Collins jumped on the ball to recover the fumble.
Following a record-setting game, Garrett has earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for games played Nov. 20-24 (Week 12), the National Football League announced Wednesday.
"Having these games that he's been having lately, it's like the sky is really the limit. Whatever he put his mind to he can achieve," Collins said.
Garrett anchored a dominant defensive performance that helped the Browns to a 24-10 victory at Las Vegas. Garrett recorded five tackles, four tackles for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles. He led all NFL players in Week 12 in sacks and forced fumbles.
During the contest, he also set the Browns franchise record with 18 sacks. The Browns' defense recorded 10 sacks, the most of any NFL team this season and the second-most by a Browns team in a game. Garrett leads the NFL this season with 18 sacks and 26 tackles for a loss.
"Being able to have a franchise record, I kind of expect that of myself and will continue to set the bar higher and higher," Garrett said following the game. "And I feel like I had an angel watching over me today."
This is the fifth career weekly league award for Garrett and first since Week 12 in 2024. He joins K Andre Szmyt (AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 3) and S Grant Delpit (AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 7) as the third Browns player to be named AFC Player of the Week this season.
Even as opposing offenses game plan to limit Garrett, he has continued to affect the game through his ability to rush the passer and play the run game. In addition to his 18 sacks and 26 tackles for loss, he also has 27 quarterback hits and 44 tackles through 11 games.
"I think if you watch Myles play, watch him play the backside of the run in that game where they tried to put a jet sweep in front of him, he closed and made the tackle," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "I mean, those are high level plays. They don't get the same attention that the sacks may get, but they're as important to us as anything. It's part of our DNA, just playing really hard. And you watch number 95 out there; he is playing really hard down in and down out."
