BALTIMORE -- Browns defensive end Myles Garrett couldn’t help but pay some respect to Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson after Jackson dazzled with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews with 9:48 left in the third quarter on Sunday night.
This was no ordinary 13-yard touchdown pass, mind you. This was Jackson performing one of his finest escape acts, getting away from the Browns pass rush and delivering a throw from around the 35-yard line to a wide open Andrews, who ran to the front of the end zone to make the catch.
Garrett walked by Jackson after the play and the two hit their helmets together while Jackson tapped Garrett on the head.
“I said it was a helluva play and he told me good stuff, but more explicit,” Garrett said after the Browns lost, 16-10, to the Ravens. “Man made a helluva play, that’s what he does. I hit his arm while he was throwing, I was expecting it to be a fumble or an incomplete pass and he gets it 30 yards down the field, into the end zone.”
Browns cornerback Denzel Ward shouldered the blame for the play.
“Because we were in zero coverage, and I was driving on it,” Ward said. “I thought the ball would come out quick, but I saw something else opening up, so I swung back to help make a play, and then he threw it up the middle, and I wasn’t there.”
After the game, Garrett took time to respond to criticism of his gesture after the play that he was made aware of before coming to the postgame podium.
“I dapped him up because I have sportsmanship, at least in my eyes. I help guys up. I dap them up when they make a helluva play like that one that he made,” Garrett said. “I don’t think anything should come out of us having respect for our opponent. I don’t think there should be any doubt in our heart of who we are on that field.”
“He didn’t really say nothing, he just shook his head,” Jackson said. “... He was just giving me props on the play, that’s all.”
The moment was a footnote to a spectacular play on a frustrating night for the Browns’ defense, not because they gave up more plays like that -- just the opposite, in fact. They intercepted Jackson four times and harassed the quarterback who, three weeks ago, was getting MVP buzz and has been a thorn in the Browns’ sides since he took over as the Ravens starter.
“It’s one of the best times we’ve played Lamar,” Garrett said. “Four picks, constant pressure, had him looking over his shoulder, that’s a decent job.”
Garrett even tied the franchise’s single-season sack record, collecting his 14th sack of the season.
“It wouldn’t matter if I had five sacks today, with a loss it don’t mean anything,” Garrett said. “I want to win just as bad or more than anybody. No matter what anybody says, what they say about me dapping up Lamar, us dapping up their players, we want to win. Badly.”
The defense held the Ravens to just 3.9 yards per play and Jackson completed 20-of-32 passes for 165 yards, a touchdown and the four picks for a 46.5 quarterback rating. He added 68 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
They sacked Jackson twice and hit him five times. They chased him around all night, especially Garrett, and made him look as uncomfortable as you can make a player like Jackson look.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
“It’s hard to process. We’ve got to be better,” Garrett said. “We’ve got to turn those plays into scores on defense and we’ve got to make more stops when they’re backed up. We let them drive out a couple times when they were backed up at the 30, 25, got to give a shorter field for our offense.”
Which was the real problem Sunday night -- the Browns simply could not get their offense moving. Baker Mayfield completed just 18-of-37 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown and a 79.4 rating. He fumbled once. The Browns rushed for just 40 yards on a night when the Ravens often had 8, 9 or 10 players within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, even on obvious passing downs. The Browns were 4-for-13 on third down.
Garrett was asked, even though it’s not his side of the ball, if the offense’s struggles frustrate him.
“Like you said, it’s not my side of the ball,” he said. “I play defense, I go out there, I go to get the job done, I go to make a big play, that’s what they ask of me, that’s what they expect of me.”
Even when the defense made big plays, it wasn’t enough. The offense turned just one of their four turnovers into points, a 46-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin.
And, like we’ve heard before after a strong defensive performance, it left Garrett and Co. saying they need to somehow do more.
“It’s frustrating. Everybody knows that. Anybody in the league would tell you, rushing against that guy is tough. You’re rushing against the tackle and him because he’s fast, dynamic, shifty, all the words apply, but we’ve got to find a way,” Garrett said. “We found a way multiple times, got pressure on him, had hits on him, couple sacks, made him throw the ball away when he didn’t want to and it still wasn’t enough. We’ve got to find a way to do more. Two weeks, we’ve got to find a way at our house.”
And when he makes a big play, give him his credit.
“It got told to me that people had a problem with me dapping up a guy who made an extraordinary play when I was right there in his face. I almost made an extraordinary play,” Garrett said. “The guy’s a baller. It’s a game. He’s one of the best at it. I appreciate greatness. He dapped me up, too. Wasn’t like I was patting him on the head and letting him go by. He appreciates my play, I appreciate his. We should do that more often instead of tearing each other down.”
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