Kevin Stefanski, who is climbing the Coach of the Year leaderboard with each victory he leads the injury-plagued Cleveland Browns to during the 2023 NFL season, would like the officials to take his advice.
After all, he makes the same appeals to the officials every week.
Myles Garrett, like T.J. Watt for the Pittsburgh Steelers, can’t seem to get the whistle he and the Browns believe he deserves. The head coach is working hard to change that.
Every week, Kevin Stefanski brings up Myles Garrett Holding.
Myles Garrett has been a force to be reckoned with for the Browns in recent years. Pro Football Focus’ grading system assigned him an 89.5 overall score in 2020, a 92.0 in 2021, a 92.5 in 2022, and a 93.0 this season, demonstrating both his impressive growth trajectory and consistent high level of play.
The PFF scale, on the other hand, evaluates players based on their performance rather than their raw results. Garrett and the Browns as a whole would like to see him record more quarterback takedowns, but they believe he is being held back.
“I talk to the officials every week leading up to the game about keeping an eye on the guys who are blocking [Garrett],” Stefanski said, according to Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “It really does come with being a great player.” We obviously want the other teams to follow the rules, but it hasn’t slowed him down. I mean, he’s still playing at a high level.”
Despite the extra attention heaped on him every weekend, Garrett has still racked up 13 sacks in 13 games, putting him on pace to match his previous two seasons’ total of 16 sacks.
On the 2023 leaderboard, only Khalil Mack (15.0), T.J. Watt (14.0), Maxx Crosby (13.5), Danielle Hunter (13.5), Josh Allen (13.5), and Trey Hendrickson (13.5) are ahead of him. Only Watt has been more productive as a sack artist since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, according to Stathead:
T.J. Watt: 91.5 sacks from 2017 through the present
Myles Garrett: 87.5
Aaron Donald: 81.0
Cameron Jordan: 71.0
Chris Jones: 70.5
Khalil Mack: 69.5
Danielle Hunter: 66.0
Chandler Jones: 65.0
Matt Judon: 62.5
Yannick Ngakoue: 61.0
Still, that statistical prowess doesn’t mean either he or the Cleveland coaching staff is satisfied.
“You know, Myles gets a lot of notice. “I’m bringing breaking news into SportsCenter,” Stefanski said. “When the coordinators get ready to game plan for him, the game plan is built around stopping him.” So he gets a lot of attention through tight end chips, running back chips, and slides to him, and he’s a tough guy to block.
“There will always be plays where the offensive line is hanging on for dear life, sometimes literally.” So he battles through it. I know he was frustrated, but he just has to keep playing and not let that get in the way of him playing really good football.”
Myles Garrett Has Some Thoughts on Officiating
Even if Stefanski brings up Garrett and the possibility of holding calls every week, the pass rusher’s own words following a Week 14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars have only heightened the spotlight.
Garrett had a full-fledged rant about the officiating after being held without a sack for the third week in a row, recording just one tackle and three quarterback hits on the day.
“The officiating was a travesty today,” he said after the win. “It was truly awful. And the fact that they’re getting away with things like hands to the face, holding, and false starting. They must have called a couple. But they could have made it all a game. And the one that cost us a two-yard gain. Respect to those guys; it’s a tough job. But, hey, we have a tough job as well.
“You can’t make it any more difficult by throwing the rulebook out the window. And, as I previously stated, I have a lot of respect for those guys, but we are scrutinized for the plays we don’t make. As a result, someone must hold them accountable for the plays or decisions they do not make. Every single play, they must be scrutinized in the same way that we are.”
It remains to be seen whether officials will respond by blowing the whistle more frequently or by displaying subconscious bias against the player who called them out.
Garrett appears to have a strong case in either case. Turn on any Browns game and you’re bound to see at least a few examples of plays that could have resulted in laundry hitting the turf on the dominant defender’s behalf.
“As I watched the game film this week, I saw Garrett consistently tugged, hooked, and grabbed by just about every Jacksonville offensive lineman,” Lance Reisland wrote for Cleveland.com, while video evidence such as the plays embedded above and below backed up his claims. “By my count, on his 67 snaps, Garrett was held 11 times, with five of those being blatant holding violations that went uncalled.”
Would more sacks result from a more consistent whistle? Most likely not. However, it would benefit a Cleveland defense that is expected to do a lot of heavy lifting this season, especially in front of the home crowd at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
And, of course, Stefanski would have less reason to be in the officials’ ears.
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