Ahead of their Week 6 matchup at Acrisure Stadium against the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers stated all last week that they had a plan in place to try and slow down Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett.
Garrett, of course, talked his trash Friday leading up to the matchup, stating the boos from Steelers fans fueled him, and that Renegade is a song he loves.
“I’ve made a lot of big plays before that song’s played and after it’s played,” he said to reporters Friday. “I’ve loved the song forever, so it just adds more of a history to it, thinking back on some of the memories now wrapped around that song.”
Later that day Garrett released a video on X, using a clip from The Pat McAfee Show at Steelers training camp in which Steelers fans chanted his name with vitriol to post his message about how the hate fuels him.
And yet on Sunday in the Steelers’ 23-9 win over the Browns to move to 4-1, dropping the Browns to 1-5 on the season, Garrett was nearly invisible all game.
Garrett had just two assisted tackles against the Steelers, failing to record a solo stop or even a quarterback hit. He wanted to add Aaron Rodgers to his graveyard of quarterbacks he’s sacked, and yet he never came close. According to Pro Football Focus’ preliminary stats, Garrett played 40 snaps and had just one pressure on 24 pass-rush reps.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin expressed the importance of having a plan against Garrett last Tuesday during his weekly press conference. Rodgers stressed that importance on Wednesday, and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith reiterated that on Thursday in the week leading up to the matchup.
On Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers executed that plan to near perfection. The Steelers put Rodgers on the move quite a bit, rolling him away from Garrett’s side, negating his ability to make plays. They got multiple hands on him and knew where he was aligned on every snap.
Third-year left tackle Broderick Jones had a big challenge entering the Week 6 matchup, and he had a strong showing, allowing just that one pressure. Of course, the Steelers got the ball out quickly, and again, they put Rodgers on the move quite a bit, leaving extra help with Jones to negate Garrett.
It was the Steelers’ plan though, and it worked very well. Rodgers wasn’t sacked on the afternoon and was hit just three times — none by Garrett. They also ran the ball successfully, grinding out 100 yards on 28 carries, controlling the ball and churning out a hard-fought win.
After Garrett’s near no-show, he falls to 0-8 in the regular season at Acrisure Stadium. Maybe there just weren’t enough pre-game boos to fuel him for a matchup he deems a rivalry.
