Myles Garrett breaks NFL sack record; Raiders lock down No. 1 pick

The final weekend of the NFL regular season saw Myles Garrett set the record for most sacks in a season, the Las Vegas Raiders secure the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft and the Carolina Panthers sneak into the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Garrett, an All-Pro pass-rusher with the Cleveland Browns, leapfrogged New York Giants Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Pittsburgh Steelers star linebacker T.J. Watt for the single-season sack title with less than six minutes left in a game against Cincinnati when he took down Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow for a six-yard loss.

The sack was Garrett’s 23rd of the year, half a sack more than what Strahan (2001) and Watt (2021) put up during their record-setting seasons.

Burrow offered little resistance on the play as the offensive line collapsed around him in a 20-18 Browns victory.

“I can’t lie, I was nervous as hell,” Garrett told NFL on CBS reporter Amanda Balionis after the game. “I had a dream last night that I didn’t get it and all the feelings that come with that. I woke up, I think I was sweating and then I was like there’s no way I’m going to let that be my destiny.

“I was just fighting like hell to not only rewrite history, but I feel like my own destiny.”

Garrett has sacked 51 players over his nine-year NFL career, according to The Associated Press, with Burrow leading the list with 12 in 10 career games.

This year also marked the eighth straight season in which Garrett has recorded double-digit sacks. He now has 125 ½ over the course of his career, good for a share of 28th all-time.

Meanwhile, in other NFL news on Sunday:

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RAIDERS SECURE NO. 1 PICK IN 2026 DRAFT

The Las Vegas Raiders nailed down the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft after the New York Giants doubled up on the Dallas Cowboys with a 34-17 win.

The win by the Giants (4-13) means the Raiders game against Kansas City on Sunday afternoon is virtually meaningless as they were ensured of owning the worst record in the league this season.

The Raiders (2-14 heading into Sunday) got running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick in 2025 and have owned the first overall pick in the NFL on just one other occasion with quarterback JaMarcus Russell proving to be one of the biggest busts in league history after was he was taken out of LSU in 2007.

He played just 31 games over three seasons, tossing more interceptions (23) than touchdowns (18).

Two of the top players available in the 2026 draft include a pair of quarterbacks in Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza of Indiana or Oregon’s Dante Moore.

FALCONS WIN HANDS PANTHERS DIVISION TITLE

The Carolina Panthers are NFC South champions for the first time in 11 years.

The Panthers (8-9) clinched the division title when the Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 on Sunday to eliminate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Led by second-year coach Dave Canales and third-year quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers are the NFC’s No. 4 seed and will host either the Los Angeles Rams (11-5) or San Francisco 49ers (12-5). It’s their first playoff appearance since 2017, when they lost a wild card game two years after they went 15-1 and lost the Super Bowl.

The Buccaneers (8-9) beat Carolina on Saturday to stay alive for an extra day but lost a three-team tiebreaker with the Falcons also finishing 8-9. Tampa Bay started 6-2 before losing seven of nine, failing to win its fifth straight division title.

— With files from The Associated Press.