Sports

Bengals Rip Officials For Stopping Play To Celebrate Myles Garrett In Otherwise Meaningless Game

#NFL
by
Myles Garrett / Cleveland Browns

© Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images


Myles Garrett made NFL history on Sunday during a win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The star pass rusher set a single season record for sacks with 23.

Play was momentarily halted to celebrate the achievement in an otherwise meaningless game. Those on the Bengals sidelines were unhappy with that stoppage.

Garrett entered the finale sitting on 22 after being held without a quarterback takedown the week prior vs. the Steelers. The NFL record stood at 22.5 ahead of his final performance. It fell in the fourth quarter against Cincy.

Myles Garrett is the new NFL sack leader.

He took down Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the Cleveland defense looked to hold onto a late 17-12 lead. Play was then stopped to recognize the accomplishment.

Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor said he was unaware that the game would be paused. He scolded officials in his ensuing press conference.

“There were five minutes left in our season,” he said. “We’re playing for our lives here. I was never told we were going to stop the game. In a critical moment like that, the refs said they made a decision that they were going to stop the game.

“They said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t feel that… The umpire just held the ball, so we couldn’t do anything.”

Ja’Marr Chase echoed those sentiments. He downplayed the significance of the moment while simultaneously ripping referees.

“That’s like me catching my tenth pass and the whole team running on the field,” he said in the locker room. “We would get flagged.”

The stoppage didn’t matter, and neither did the game.

Cincinnati entered the matchup at 6-10 on the year. Cleveland was 4-12.

There were no playoff implications. No divisional race impacts. The Browns were cemented into their last place AFC North standing. The Bengals were guaranteed a losing season.

Sure, draft status could be slimly altered depending on the final result, but there was little importance outside of Myles Garrett’s sack record chase.

Taylor’s response seemed like sour grapes given what transpired in the moments to follow.

The stoppage appeared to have little impact on the Bengals’ offense. While they’d be forced to punt two plays after the sack, they’d get the ball back to score a go-ahead touchdown with under two minutes remaining.

Cleveland then drove the field in the final 1:29 to kick a game-winning field goal. The Browns won, 20-18.

Referees allowed Myles Garrett to celebrate history with teammates in an otherwise disappointing season. Zac Taylor took the loss in what might be his final game as Cincinnati’s head coach.