Browns thriving despite QB Mayfield’s struggles
One or two incompletions against the Jacksonville Jaguars may not decide quarterback Baker Mayfield’s future with the Cleveland Browns.
But if there was a moment frozen in time that captured Mayfield’s maddening inconsistency, it was during the second quarter of Sunday’s 27-25 Browns victory that should never have been that close.
It was 73 degrees and partly cloudy at kickoff, a balmy, welcome relief after the horrible weather conditions in Cleveland the previous three games.
The Browns faced first-and-goal at the Jacksonville 5. Mayfield’s go-to receiver, Rashard Higgins, was wide open in the middle of the end zone, with no defenders within 5 yards. But Mayfield’s throw went over Higgins’ head, and the Browns ended up settling for a field goal.
The pass continued an alarming trend in Mayfield’s crucial third season and was a play that will loom large in postseason discussions between general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski as they plot the Browns’ future.
The week before in a victory over Philadelphia, Mayfield missed tight ends Harrison Bryant and Austin Hooper open in the end zone. And the ball to Higgins on Sunday wasn’t Mayfield’s only curse-inducing throw.
Backed up at his own 1 in the fourth quarter, Mayfield hit Jarvis Landry for two 19-yard completions and moved the ball to the Jaguars 22 with 5:47 remaining. But on third-and-inches, Mayfield threw a bullet behind a wideopen Kareem Hunt. The drive stalled as Hunt’s extension of the ball on a fourth-down run came up short.
The balls to Hunt and Higgins added unneeded drama that helped give the Jaguars a chance to tie with 2:14 left, but quarterback Mike Glennon failed to complete a two-point conversion pass.
Afterward, Browns teammates were focusing more on the team’s 8-3 record than any misses by Mayfield, the former No. 1 draft pick from Oklahoma.
“I think the thing that we take from this is obviously not only just winning the game, but we still have a lot of our best football ahead of us,” Landry said.
Landry scored his first touchdown of the season, a 5-yard pass from Mayfield with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter. Landry could have had a second score in the second quarter, but Mayfield’s throw to him on the sideline was high.
Landry, who finished with eight receptions for 143 yards, stayed away from criticism of Mayfield.
“I am excited to look at this film, not just for what I did, but for how as a team we grinded this one out,” Landry said. “We took care of each other.”
Mayfield’s inconsistency was in the spotlight even though he completed 19 of 29 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns and a 116.7 rating, his third-best of the season.
The decision on whether to pick up Mayfield’s fifth-year option for 2022 looms in May. It might seem logical to keep Mayfield, giving him the benefit of the doubt because of the poor coaching hires made by owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.
But because of the NFL’S new collective-bargaining agreement that kicks in with Mayfield’s 2018 draft class, that fifth-year option will be fully guaranteed when exercised. That could mean paying Mayfield as much as $25 million.
Mayfield winning a playoff game would likely earn him that kind of money, even though the Browns are thriving right now because of running backs Nick Chubb and Hunt.
Regardless, errors by Mayfield don’t faze the Browns, who believe their quarterback always bounces back from his misfires.
“I know Baker is a warrior and he keeps fighting,” Chubb said. “If he does miss a play here or there, I know we are going to get the next play. At some point, he is going to make a big play for us, as he always does.
“He never gives up. That’s part of who he is and that’s who our team is.”