CLEVELAND – Without Myles Garrett, the Cleveland defense bent a little.
Never broke.
And ultimately inflicted the back-breaking plays itself.
Behind Sione Takitaki’s pick-six and Olivier Vernon’s sack safety, the Browns weathered the rain – and absence of their top defensive player – to knock off the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-17.
Two days earlier, Garrett was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after the team announced a player had tested positive for the virus. Coming into the weekend Garrett had almost as many sacks – a league-leading 9.5 – as the rest of the team (12.