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Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was not happy when NFL officials stopped play to mark Myles Garrett’s historic 23rd sack of the season in the team’s 20-18 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Taylor fumed at the stoppage, which came late in the fourth quarter with just over five minutes remaining, saying after the game that he was never told game officials planned to stop play if Garrett hit the mark to become the NFL’s single-season sack leader.
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) during the fourth quarter at Paycor Stadium. The play set a new NFL single season sack record by Garrett. (Joseph Maiorana/Imagn Images)
“There’s 5 minutes left in our season. We’re playing for our lives out here and I was never told that we’re going to stop the game and in a critical moment like that,” he told reporters after the game. “And the refs just said that they made a decision that they were going to stop the game and they said that they tried to do it as quickly as possible – I didn’t feel that.”
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The Bengals had already been officially eliminated last month after a 24-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. Still, Taylor said the team was playing to win.
“We didn’t sub. We’re trying to be on the ball and go and play with tempo, and the umpire just held the ball so that we couldn’t do anything. And I’m yelling at Joe [Burrow] to get on the ball. We didn’t sub, we’re going and then we couldn’t play.”
Taylor said that in the meeting with refs before kickoff, he was “never informed” of their plans.
Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns is carried by teammates after the sack during the fourth quarter of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Jan. 4, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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“Trying to get an answer was not easy. They just said that they made a decision as a crew to stop the game if that happened. I guess it didn’t matter when it happened, they were just going to stop the game and let it happen.
“I was never informed of that. They didn’t say one word.”
Garrett came into the game needing one sack to surpass the mark of 22.5, shared by New York Giants great and Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt in 2021.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor speaks at a news conference after an NFL game against the Cleveland Browns in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
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With minutes remaining in the final game of the season, Garrett saw his opportunity with Burrow on first-and-10 at the Browns’ 45-yard line.
“It was everything I expected. It was so tough. I knew they were going to make it difficult,” Garrett said. “I don’t think I saw more than three singles on a real drop-back the whole game. And I just knew that if I did, I have to make that moment count. And the feeling couldn’t be better.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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