The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Browns better by leaps and bounds
Mayfield throws three touchdown passes as Cleveland sweeps Bengals
No awkward hug. No cold handshake. No holiday greeting.
Baker Mayfield’s only interaction with former coach Hue Jackson was an icy stare.
Mayfield threw three touchdown passes to thrill a sellout, holiday-spirited crowd that came out to boo Jackson, and rookie Nick Chubb ran for 112 yard as the Browns beat the Bengals, 26-18, on Dec. 23 to sweep their southern Ohio neighbors for the first time since 2002.
“Quite honestly, I couldn’t care about what happened in the past,” Mayfield said. “It is about this year and we won. We are moving forward.”
The No. 1 pick in this year’s draft continued his stellar rookie season, one that took off after Jackson was fired by the Browns on Oct. 29. Mayfield has thrown 24 TD passes, third most in NFL history by a rookie and just two shy of the record shared by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson.
With their fifth win in six games, the Browns (7-7-1) improved to 5-2 under interim coach Gregg Williams.
He has gone from long shot to legitimate candidate to become Cleveland’s next coach. It’s only the second time since 2007 that the Browns have won at least seven games.
The Bengals (6-9), on the other hand, are disintegrating under coach Marvin Lewis. They lost for the sixth time in seven games and are assured of finishing last in the AFC North, a spot the Browns have occupied every season since 2011.
Cincinnati made it interesting as Jeff Driskel threw two TD passes in a two-minute stretch to get the Bengals close.
However, Mayfield connected with tight end David Njoku for 66 yards just before the two-minute warning and the Browns ran out the clock.
Following the long completion, Mayfield jogged past Jackson standing on the sideline and stared at his former coach, whom he called “fake” after their matchup last month in Cincinnati.
Mayfield playfully denied he was showing up Jackson.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.
Told that the exchange was blowing up on social media, Mayfield said, “That’s all right. We won.”
Lewis spent little time discussing what went wrong, holding a news conference that lasted just over a minute.
“We came into this season thinking, ‘We can win this division,’” Driskel said. “You have to look at yourself and ask, ‘What can I do to prevent this next week or next season?’”
Mayfield has Browns fans convinced there are glory days ahead. He challenged Clevelanders to fill FirstEnergy Stadium for the home finale, and they did show with a surge in ticket sales this week.
The Browns were officially eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday. That hardly dampened the enthusiasm around a team that has recovered from a 0-16 season and become one of the league’s best stories in 2018.
Mayfield’s the main reason.
In the fourth quarter, fans chanted “Ba-ker, Baker” after he scampered 10 yards. Moments later, they were roaring again after Mayfield stretched to reach for a first down before being shoved hard out of bounds by defensive end Carlos Dunlap, triggering a sideline skirmish near Cleveland’s bench.
“It has been a good run,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, we would love to be in the playoffs, but like I said earlier in the year, you know that you have to go through some tough times to see the brighter end of it.”
Trick and treat
Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens went into his bag of tricks to set up Cleveland’s second TD. On first down, the Browns ran a pass off a reverse with wide receiver Jarvis Landry threading a 63-yard pass — the ball traveled more than 50 yards in the air — to Breshad Perriman. Two plays later, Mayfield rolled right and found just enough space to throw a scoring pass to Darren Fells.
“I need to ice up my shoulder,” joked Landry.
Rookie record
Browns rookie Nick Chubb gained 112 yards and set the franchise rookie record for a season.
Stellar start
Mayfield has thrown at least one TD pass in each of his 12 starts. He trails only St. Louis’ Kurt Warner (23 from 1999-00) and Minnesota’s Brad Johnson (15 from 1996-97) for the most consecutive starts with a scoring pass to begin a career.
Injuries
BROWNS >> Pro Bowl rookie cornerback Denzel Ward suffered an apparent shoulder injury in the fourth quarter. He missed the previous two games with a concussion.