Browns aim to build off season-opening loss
Baker Mayfield didn't feel quite as dangerous as Patrick Mahomes in crunch time.
The difference left Mayfield describing the pain of defeat while addressing his teammates in the visiting locker room after the Browns fell 33-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's season opener at Arrowhead Stadium.
“This one does sting and it should. It should for our guys because we were close,” Mayfield said during his postgame news conference.
“We started fast. We've just got to finish.”
Mayfield had been pinpoint accurate as a passer for much of the game.
But Mayfield failed to deliver a final dagger, and the Browns dropped to 1-21-1 in season openers since the expansion era began in 1999.
“You have to execute critical moments,” Mayfield said. “Nothing else matters before those moments, and it always comes down to those three, four plays that you look back on and say, 'Wow, if we had done this differently, it
would've worked.' "
The lessons the Browns should take away from their rendezvous with the
Chiefs are both maddening and invaluable.
“We didn't execute,” All-pro defensive end Myles Garrett said, “and down the stretch, they were the more composed and the more capable team.”
The Browns had two turnovers, actually three if you count a turnover on downs, and the Chiefs committed none.
The Browns, though, still had chances to survive those self-inflicted errors.
Mayfield and the offense squandered opportunities with a three-and-out, then the quarterback's game-clinching interception with 1:09 remaining.
“We did not play our best when it mattered. We did not coach our best when it mattered,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Versus a team like this, you have to play a 60-minute football game. We didn't do that.”
Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns offense scored at will early
Mayfield went 21-of-28 passing (75%) for 321 yards with an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 97.5.
The Browns scored on each of their first three possessions.
“We had everything we wanted,” receiver Jarvis Landry said.
Stefanski's play-calling was nothing short of masterful. He was aggressive, too, going for it on fourth-and-3 from the
Kansas City 15 during the first possession (Mayfield 5 yards to tight Austin Hooper) and on fourth-and-1 from the Kansas City 5 on the second possession (Landry's 5-yard TD run).
Rookie receiver Anthony Schwartz impressed Cleveland Browns
Although Donovan Peoples-jones started in place of the still-injured Odell Beckham Jr., Peoples-jones had just one catch on one target for 4 yards.
It was third-round draft pick Anthony Schwartz who had three catches on five targets for 69 yards and a rushing attempt for 17 yards.
Cleveland Browns debut revamped defense
The Browns had nine new starters on defense compared with the 2020 opener.
Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward were the only holdovers.
The Browns opened in their nickel defense, and the new starters were end Jadeveon Clowney, tackles Malik Mcdowell and Malik Jackson, linebackers Jeremiah Owusu-koramoah and Anthony Walker Jr., cornerbacks Greg Newsome II and Troy Hill and safeties Johnson and Ronnie Harrison Jr.