Browns no longer a laughingstock

The Cleveland Browns will enter mid-October and Week 6 of the NFL season without a losing record. How about that.

They’re 2-2-1, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North division, behind 4-1 Cincinnati and 3-2 Baltimore.

More surprising is the Browns are undefeated within the division. They tied the Steelers in the opener, and on Sunday knocked off the Ravens in an overtime field-goal fest, 12-9.

There are numerous positives for the Browns to build on.

Rookie QB Baker Mayfield (pictured) made enough positive plays to get a win. He’s not staring down receivers, and coaches aren’t afraid to let him throw — as is the case down at Lake Erie’s eastern end, in Buffalo, with the Bills and Josh Allen. Mayfield was 25-of-43 for 342 yards against a stout Ravens defence.

The better defence on the day actually was Cleveland’s. It’s becoming, dare we say, good.

“That Ravens offence has been really, really strong this season,” Browns head coach Hue Jackson said Monday. “To hold them to nine points and keep them out of the end zone, that in itself was impressive.

“Offensively, it was a grind

... Baker was really solid in his first start at home. He handled the environment really well. He has great trust in his receivers, and they have great trust in him.

That is something that we can continue to build on.” Still a problem, though, are Browns special teams. Especially their latest placekicker, Greg Joseph, who badly pulled a 55-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation and who appeared to strikingly mishit his 37-yarder in overtime that somehow went over to win it. “It does not matter if we caught a break or not. It went through ... That is what matters,” Jackson said. Yeah, but is Joseph’s job safe?

“Right now, he is our kicker — until he is not,” Jackson said. Interpretation: No it is not safe.