Garett 1, Garrett 0.
As in, zero sacks.
“I think Garett Bolles is a hell of a player,” former Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris, , told me after Denver’s fifth straight win.
“This will be a (game) No. 72 remembers for a long time,” Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey added, “because he had a hell of a night.”
, Cleveland’s one-man wrecking crew, Von Miller’s engine in Paul Millsap’s frame, came into Empower Field averaging 1.3 sacks a game, tops in the NFL.
The big defensive end left with no takedowns and his shoulder in a sling.
, did the bulk of the pitching in what was just Garrett’s third shutout in 11 games this season. And only the Cleveland star’s sixth shutout over his last 23 tilts.
“First off, that dude is a freak of nature,” Bolles said after helping keep Russell Wilson clean in the Broncos’ 29-12 rout of the Browns. “So my shout-out to him. I think he is the best defensive player in the NFL, especially as a pass-rusher.
“Just studying him and doing the things I need to do … it was just technique. And sometimes, when you go against a juggernaut, it’s a heavyweight title fight and sometimes you’ve just got to keep swinging and keep swinging until that clock hits zero.”
It had been a long time since the Broncos TKO-ed a quality team quite like that. Sunday’s win was the largest margin of victory for Denver over a team with a winning record (7-4) after Nov. 1 since the 2016 Broncos smashed the Raiders 24-6 at home to close out the season.
That’s a lot of qualifiers to make one sweet, salient point: A month to Christmas, and Broncos games haven’t been this meaningful, this late in the calendar, for about seven years.
“Isn’t that crazy from where both of these teams were a couple of years ago, compared to where they are now?” said Harris, who was Bolles’ teammate here from 2017-21 before being shipped to Seattle in the trade that brought back Big Russ.
“And even from where the Broncos were a month or two ago? They are a greatly improved football team. And they do what they do.”
They’re doing it with help from up and down the roster, too, especially along the offensive line. Cleveland’s one team sack, a garbage-time takedown in the fourth quarter with the Broncos already up 17, tied the season-low for a Browns defense regarded as one of the AFC’s best. It was just the second time they’d been held under two sacks in a game this fall.
“(That Broncos line), they work really well together,” Harris observed with a grin. “And it’s not necessarily about individual talent when we’re talking about the offensive line. It’s all about how well they work together and how they protect each other. And they did. They did a really good job (Sunday).”
This was a work trip for Harris, who still keeps his home along the Front Range. His family even watched the Broncos’ fifth straight victory from Bolles’ suite at Empower Field.
“When we’re not playing in Denver, I wish them nothing but success,” the ex-Bronco said. “Obviously, I still have a bunch of friends (there), I know a lot of the coaches, a lot of the staff. And maybe hopefully we do see them down the road and get a little rematch.”
Garett vs. Garrett in mid-January, then? Round 2?
Another grin.
“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Harris replied. “That’d be nice.“
