Mayfield gives jolt Browns needed
Rookie QB’s contagious resilience made upset of Ravens possible.
It’s only been three CLEVELAND — games and two starts, but rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield has already shown he’s wired the right way and talented enough to alter the “same old Browns” mentality that has infected the franchise for years.
Now he has a signature win as evidence.
When Mayfield gets punched in the mouth, he doesn’t curl up and die. He swings back, and he connected with a haymaker Sunday in a 12-9 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. In Mayfield’s first start at home and first start against an AFC North foe, the Browns prevailed when Greg Joseph made a game-winning 37-yard field goal with two seconds left, even though Ravens safety Tony Jefferson got a hand on the ball before it zoomed between the uprights.
“It wasn’t a pretty kick, but it went in,” Mayfield said after he, Joseph and General Manager John Dorsey received game balls from coach Hue Jackson during a postgame celebration in the locker room. “This also wasn’t a pretty win, but it counts.”
The Browns (2-2-1) snapped an 18-game winless streak in the division and a 36-game winless streak on Sundays. The Ravens (3-2) entered the weekend 15-5 against rookie quarterbacks and 7-0 against Browns rookie quarterbacks under coach John Harbaugh, who fell to 18-3 versus Cleveland.
Mayfield’s contagious resilience made the upset possible.
“Baker is a different breed,” running back Carlos Hyde said. “He’s not like most other quarterbacks, and he’s a big-time competitor. He’s just nonstop and always comes back out slinging the ball. Even when he makes mistakes, he still comes out and plays the same way.”
After the teams traded possessions to begin OT, the Browns marched to the Ravens 39-yard line and went for it on fourthand-5. Mayfield launched a pass, but it fell incomplete as cornerback Brandon Carr decked wide receiver Jarvis Landry with 3:22 remaining. The Browns wanted a pass interference or illegal contact penalty called, but referee Clay
Martin announced there was no foul because Mayfield’s pass was ruled uncatchable.
The scenario had the makings of a classic Browns loss. Except this time, the Browns didn’t let their third OT game of the season and their second in as many weeks end in pain.
The defense responded by forcing a three-and-out on three incomplete passes by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who’s now 17-3 as a starter against the Browns.
After a punt, the Browns took control at their 16 with 2:57 left, whereupon receiver Rod Streater was crushed by linebacker Matthew Judon for an 11-yard loss on a reverse. Mayfield said his mindset on second-and-21 from the 5 was “chip away” to get some yardage back, and he did by scrambling for 13 yards.
Then on third-and-8 from the 18, he delivered in the clutch.
With edge rushers Judon and Terrell Suggs collapsing the pocket, Mayfield glided backward and then to his right to avoid danger.
“He’s an escape artist,” Hyde said.
With Mayfield on the move, he fired a pass to undrafted rookie receiver Derrick Willies. An injury replacement for Rashard Higgins, who caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield with 40 seconds left in the second quarter but was knocked out of the action early in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, Willies caught the ball at the 27 despite Carr covering him and raced to the Ravens 43 for a 39-yard gain.
“[Mayfield] hung in there when things were not always perfect,” Jackson said. “He made plays, really good plays down the field. He has some things that he has to get better at, too, but, man, he gave us a chance to be put into position to win the game.”
After the long gain by Willies, running back Duke Johnson rushed for 15, 5 and 4 yards on three consecutive plays to set up Joseph’s final field goal with six seconds left. Joseph earned redemption after missing an extra point late in the second quarter — the Browns led 6-3 at halftime — and a 55-yard field goal with five seconds left in the fourth quarter that could have given Cleveland the win in regulation.
The Browns defense showed its fight, too. It recorded two takeaways — rookie cornerback Denzel Ward had an interception and linebacker Joe Schobert forced a fumble — didn’t allow a touchdown and got two stops in OT.
The poster boy for the never-say-die attitude, Mayfield finished 25-of-43 passing (58.1 percent) for 342 yards and a touchdown with an interception for a rating of 81.7, took five sacks and rushed twice for 23 yards.
“We were frustrated that we didn’t score as many times as we wanted, but we never gave up,” said Mayfield, the first Browns rookie quarterback to defeat the Harbaugh-led Ravens. “Our guys believed in it.
“Guys, early on, or I think in the past thought when something bad happens, [it’s time to] get in the tank a little bit, put their head down. But we have a team right now that is starting to believe in themselves, and rightfully so. So I take a lot of pride in the culture change.”