The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
It’s Baker Mayfield time in Browns Town
Takeaways from the Browns’ 21-17 victory over the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium:
• You know that plan of Coach Hue Jackson’s to have Baker Mayfield watch and learn from the sideline all season while Tyrod Taylor starts?
Forget about it. At least Jackson better forget about it. Mayfield rescued the Browns with a 21-17 comeback victory over the Jets when they were drowning in their own mistakes, and it is not a stretch to say he might have saved Jackson’s job in the process. It was the first time the Browns won since beating the Chargers 2017 on Christmas Eve, 2016 — a drought of 635 days. “Once Baker got in the game at quarterback, you saw a different rhythm,” Jackson said. “Obviously the young man did some really good things. What a night for him.
“He didn’t do anything I’m surprised at. He’s a tremendous football player. Everything was going to work itself out however it worked it was going to work itself out. Tonight he was able to come in and help us win.”
Jackson said he has to watch the tape before deciding who will start at quarterback against the Raiders in Oakland on Sept. 30. The doctors might take the decision out of Jackson’s hands by keeping Taylor in concussion protocol.
Taylor, battered like a birthday party piñata on nearly every possession, was knocked out of the game with a concussion late in the first half.
Whether it was the sack by Jets linebacker Avery Williamson on Taylor’s final play that ended his night or an earlier it is difficult to pinpoint, but the result is Mayfield entered the game with the Browns trailing, 14-0, and 1:42 remaining in the first half.
The home crowd and the Browns players were instantly energized.
Mayfield came out firing with authority. He led
the Browns to a field goal before halftime and eventually to a 14-14 tie. He caught a two-point conversion pass from Jarvis Landry after a one-yard run by Carlos Hyde cut the Jets lead to 14-12.
Mayfield wasn’t finished. He completed two third down passes on the game-winning drive. He finished 17 of 23 for 201 yards.
• Give the Browns defense credit, too. They stopped the Jets twice in the last two minutes after the Browns took the lead — first on an interception by Joe Schobert and again when then when Terrance Mitchell intercepted a desperation pass from Sam Darnold with 11 seconds to play. It was the 11th takeaway of the season for the Browns defense.
• The Browns offense was, in a word, offensive when Taylor was in the game. He was 4-of-14 for 19 yards before wobbling to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion in the final minutes of the first half.
The same bunch that converted eight defensive takeaways into 10 points in the first two games got what amounted to an unofficial takeaway when the defense forced the Jets to
punt from their own end zone.
The next three plays went like this: Taylor sacked for seven yards. Taylor ran around left tackle for two yards. A pass to Antonio Callaway gained two yards.
Not all the problems were on Taylor; his protection was terrible. The Browns were unable to pick up the Jets pass rushers even when New York rushed only three.
The Browns treated blitzes by the Jets as though they had never seen one before.
But Taylor, with a 62 career completion percentage, was off the mark when he wasn’t pressured. The Jets took a 7-0 lead on a run by former Browns running back Isaiah Crowell on the first play of the second quarter.
Taylor had a chance to tie the game when the Browns started on their 25 after a touchback. Callaway got behind about four yards behind the Jets defense around the New York 30. The play should have been a touchdown, but the pass was badly underthrown and incomplete.
• Special teams weren’t the only reason, but they were the main reason the Browns did not win either of the first two games and
they put the Browns in a hole against the Jets.
A punt by Britton Colquitt was blocked by New York linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, giving the Jets the ball at the Browns 28.
A blocked field goal attempt by Zane Gonzalez late in overtime of the opener forced the Browns to settle for a 21-21 tie. The block was because of a breakdown in protection and was the start of Gonzalez’ troubles.
Gonzalez missed four kicks — two PATs and two field goals — in the 21-18 loss to the Saints. That was more of an individual failure than a unit breakdown as the blocked kicks were, but it still goes back on special teams coordinator Amos Jones. New kicker Greg Joseph made two field goals and an extra point against the Jets.
To be fair, the punt coverage was improved over the first two games, but the Browns were an undisciplined bunch on punt return. They were flagged for holding or a block in the back three times.
Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider