Myles Garrett has enjoyed trying to chop, shred and bury Ben Roethlisberger, and hopes to 'send him off with a bang'
Updated: Jan. 01, 2022, 12:38 p.m. |
Published: Dec. 31, 2021, 7:01 p.m.
Myles Garrett wants to send Ben Roethlisberger off with a 'bang:' Browns at Steelers
Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Myles Garrett came into the NFL in 2017 vowing to come for Ben Roethlisberger first and 'chop him down.'
It was the perfect way to win over long-suffering Browns fans and spice up the one-sided turnpike rivalry.
He didn't get a crack at Big Ben as a rookie, but in his second season, he came at him big again, posing as Dwight Schrute from 'The Office' and shredding a photo of the future Hall of Famer. Gutsy yes, but Garrett has always been a 'go big, or go home' kind of guy.
He brought it strong again this year when he put Roethlisberger's name on a tombstone in his front yard along with all of the other QBs he's sacked or hopes to. Unfortunately for Garrett, Roethlisberger was the spookier of the two on Halloween when he beat the Browns 15-10 at FirstEnergy Stadium, throwing for 266 yards and a TD.
It's a loss that looms large as the Browns head into a must-win game on Monday Night Football, in what Roethlisberger — 24-2-1 against the Browns in the regular season and 0-1 in the playoffs — has said is likely his last game in Heinz Field, at least in the regular season.
With the Browns at 7-8 and the Steelers at 7-7-1, both clubs have a chance to win the AFC North if they win out and get some help from the Chiefs (against the 9-6 Bengals) and Rams (against the 8-7 Ravens). Of course, the Bengals can spoil the whole thing by winning Sunday afternoon and clinching the division.
Either way, it promises to be Garrett's last chance to sack the Browns' perennial nemesis, whom he's taken down five times in six meetings, including once on Oct. 31.
"[Will I] miss him?'' Garrett said. "It's kind of like when I was growing up, I barely remember the retirement of Michael Jordan because I was very young, but just seeing players at the end of their careers slowly retired and not fading into obscurity but they leave their mark on the game, and they go do other things.
"I will miss his presence in the game, but as far as going against him and the rivalry against him versus us, no, I will not miss that. I will be looking forward to new things, new challenges, new quarterbacks and new people to put in the front yard."
Garrett, who's studied great athletes like Jordan and Kobe Bryant, appreciates greatness and has complimented some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season, including Aaron Rodgers. It's no different for Roethlisberger, whom he's admired over the years.
"As far as quarterbacks, he's one of the greats,'' Garrett said. "He's one of the best Steelers quarterbacks that they've ever had, and he might be the best. Just going back and forth with him has been fun over the years. I say over the years because now it's my fifth and he's been in the league for almost two decades. It's been a back and forth. Me trying to get after him. Me being out a little bit. Him being out a little bit.
"Always having good interactions and good gamesmanship when we're out there. I'm trying to do my thing and shut down the game on my side of the ball, and him trying to get the ball off and get it off quick so I can't do that. I like the challenge of it going against a guy of his caliber and a guy of his prestige. I will just try to keep it cordial and send him off with a bang."
Roethlisberger, 39, has been sacked 35 times for fifth-most in the NFL, but Garrett makes no promises he'll add to that total. Mike Tomlin has already made it job No. 1 not to let Garrett wreck the game, and Garrett is fighting through a groin injury.
"I wanted a sack against Rodgers last week just because of who he is and what he means to the game,'' Garrett said. "Even if I was beating my tackle cleanly or however I was – inside, outside or power rush – it seemed like he was getting the ball off quick. At the end of the day, just have to try to be disruptive.
"Sometimes it's just not in the cards. The quarterback isn't going to take that chance of holding the ball and extend the play. Sometimes coverage will hold up a little bit longer, and sometimes he will just check it down and hope for the best."
Garrett acknowledged that his groin injury, which hurt in Green Bay, isn't much better six days later. But he practiced the past two days to gauge where he's at.
"I feel it every time I torque or try to come out of my stance,'' he said. "When I'm picking my legs up out of my stance, that explosive movement hurts, but like any kind of explosive movement where it's going left, right or forward, I do feel it."
His close friend and fellow edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, who watched the game from home while out with COVID-19, could tell the league's No. 3 sack leader with 15.0 wasn't close to himself.
"His get-off is probably one of the best in the league, if not the best,'' Clowney said. "I didn't see him getting off like he normally got off throughout the games. I hope we get it together for this week. He was saying he is feeling a lot better so I hope we get it going this week."
Garrett's Mamba mentality has inspired his teammates to dig deep for this must-win game, including Clowney, who couldn't pick up his throbbing head for his first two days of Covid.
"He definitely has the heart of a lion,'' Clowney said. "He's been showing that throughout the season. The guy goes out there and competes play in and play out, going against two or three people and wins. The team and the people around him depend on him. Of course, we depend on him. Him going out there to show he can play through adversity and injuries is very, very upside for him and the team. We all depend on Myles a lot throughout the year."
The undisputed leader on defense, Garrett knows his teammates are counting on him to lead the charge in Pittsburgh, pain or no pain.
"I have to,'' he said. "It's kind of on us and it's kind of on me to step up and make some plays that will put us in the win column because we have to win. We've been saying that for a while and for the last five games. We have to win. We have not been doing that. I feel like I need to call upon myself to be the person I need to be and need me to be."
He knows full well the hallmark of a champion — to come up big in the biggest moments. It's what Roethlisberger has done in his probable farewell tour, pulling off six fourth-quarter comebacks this season.
"As a competitor and as a sportsman, you want to be able to say you showed up on the biggest stage and played your best games," Garrett said. "They have to prepare like that. You have to work like that during the week. You have to make sure that all of the things that you need to have in order before you even get to the field are ready for you to have a great game like that. I think we are preparing like we need to."
He's had his moments with defensive coordinator Joe Woods this season, especially after the 45-7 loss to the Patriots. But the defense has mostly dominated since then, holding opponents to 16 or fewer points in three of the last five games, and almost beating the Packers last week.
"Get the calls in quick and get the hell out of the way,'' Garrett said of how they've done it. "We have some ballers. We have some guys who can make a lot of plays, whether it's upfront or on the back end. He's giving us what we need to prepare us. Preparing us well, and letting us flourish. We're out there and making plays. Sometimes it's not going to be like he drew up, and you just have to let those guys win those one-on-one battles."
He has enough to worry about that he's leaving the points-challenged offense to handle its business. While the defense has flourished, the offense has scored 17 points or fewer in nine of the last 12 games.
"We're not cheerleaders for the offense,'' Garrett said. "I'm not going to go over there and give a pep talk to any of those guys whenever they need it, but if I see them with their head down, I'll tell them to pick their head up, come on, just keep on working, keep on going out there, next drive, turn the page and stuff like that. My job is focused on performing on the field and having all of my guys on defense all on the same page.
"On offense, they have their own guys. They have Baker (Mayfield), they have Jarvis (Landry) and they have Nick (Chubb). We can't be worried about them, what they're doing or them finding their stride sometime in game or before this game. We hope they do, but at the end of the day, we just have to keep on playing ours."
Garrett, giver of the weekly pre-game motivational speech, will be tasked with his biggest one Monday. While Roethlisberger is undoubtedly delivering his Win One for the Gipper speech, Garrett will have to whip his team up into a matching emotional frenzy.
"I don't plan that,'' Garrett said of what he'll say. "It comes to me as I warm up throughout the day so I can't really give you an answer."
His speech may or may not include the words chop, shred, or bury, but as Clowney said, 'I hope we send [Roethlisberger] out the right way - our way.''
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