Comeback victory gives fans confidence

Give the Browns credit for this: They have excellent timing. After stumbling to a 0-1-1 record to start the season and for most of the first half Sept. 20 looking on offense as though they met for the first time about 30 minutes before kickoff, the Browns finally, finally, gave their fans reason to smile and be proud.

And they did it at home by rallying from being down 14-0 to beat the New York Jets, 21-17, in front of a nationwide audience on the NFL Network with No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield coming off the Browns’ bench and outplaying No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold at quarterback.

The beer in those Bud Light refrigerators scattered throughout FirstEnergy Stadium and surrounding communities must have gone down smoother because of what the Browns already endured tying the Steelers, 21-21, in the season opener and losing, 21-18, to the Saints on Sept. 16.

Normally FirstEnergy Stadium is a ghost town late in the fourth quarter, but not this time.

“Everybody wants to make this a big moment,” Coach Hue Jackson said after the game. “Winning is outstanding, but we plan on doing this more. This is just the start of it, I truly believe, for this football team.”

It was the first time in 635 days Jackson was able to talk about winning a game. The Browns hadn’t won since they beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-17, on Christmas Eve, 2016.

The Chargers were a dispirited team that day. They were 5-9 when they boarded a plane to fly across the country on a holiday weekend to play a game that meant nothing to them. They knew their coach (Mike McCoy) would be fired and they knew Los Angeles would be their new home beginning in 2017. The Chargers were flat, lifeless, and still it took a blocked field goal attempt by former Browns defensive lineman Jamie Meder and a missed field

goal try by the Chargers on the final play to make winners of the Browns.

Nothing was cheap about the way the Browns beat the Jets.

One game certainly isn’t enough proof to say the Browns got the better quarterback when General Manager John Dorsey drafted Mayfield instead of Darnold, but Mayfield definitely won Round one.

Mayfield completed 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards. He did not throw an interception, nor did he throw a touchdown pass. But Mayfield’s success went beyond numbers. He electrified the fans, energized his teammates and gave reason to believe this season really could be a turning point for the franchise. Darnold threw two interceptions in the final two minutes.

“Just the mentality, the

attitude that (Mayfield) has always approached it with since he stepped into this building,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said after the game. “I never doubted him. I don’t think there’s a coach or a player in this building who has doubted him or felt like we were in a disadvantage when he came onto the field.

“That’s something that you have to love about him. That’s why he was the first pick. That’s why he was the Heisman Trophy winner. You saw it tonight firsthand.”

Jackson was forced to use Mayfield because his chosen quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, was concussed late in the first half.

Jackson after the game said he has to see the tape before naming a starter for the Browns’ game in Oakland on Sept. 30. It

was the diplomatic answer and one showing respect to Taylor even if he has already made his mind up to go with Mayfield.

Three games into the season, the ball-hawking defense looks to be the real deal. It still has to clean up the run defense, but 11 takeaways this early in the season is staggering. With Mayfield at quarterback the offense and defense feed off each other.

“The best part about it was that we were here at home,” Mayfield said. “You could feel the energy of the crowd and how badly they wanted it. We have to play for each other, but at the same time, this city deserves it. We have to have that mindset, going to get it no matter what’s happening. So it felt great.”

The feeling in the locker room was the party has only started.

Jeff Schudel