Browns’ defense, Bruise Brothers pick up Mayfield

Beating the Bears like the Browns did last week, even setting franchise records by holding them to 47 yards of offense and 1 net yard passing, came with an asterisk because Justin Fields is a rookie quarterback.

Not so on Oct. 3 when the Browns beat the Vikings, 14-7, in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The defense throttled the Vikings, holding Kirk Cousins to 14 of 32 passing after Cousins was 6-for-6 on the first drive of the game. He finished it with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson. After that, it was Nightmare on Chicago Avenue for Cousins.

The Vikings were 5-of-16 on third down, a week after the Browns held the Bears to 1-of-11 on third down. Cousins did not throw an interception in any of his first three games, but Greedy Williams ended that streak with a pick with 6:08 to play.

The Bruise Brothers did their part, as they do every week.

Nick Chubb rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries. Kareem Hunt had 14 carries for 69 yards and the Browns’ only touchdown of the game when he followed Andy Janovich into the end zone from the 1 with 1:12 to play in the second quarter.

Chase McLaughlin nailed a 48-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half to increase the Browns’ lead to 11-7 and then hit from 53 yards with 6:16 to play.

Kickers are nomads. The Browns claimed McLaughlin on waivers from the Jets on May 10 of this year. Undrafted out of Illinois, McLaughlin signed with the Bills in 2019 and also spent time with Vikings, Chargers, 49ers, Colts, Vikings again, Jaguars and Jets before sticking with the Browns. Even that might not have happened had a quadriceps injury not knocked Cody Parkey out of the competition in training camp.

The only person who didn’t step up for the Browns was Baker Mayfield. He was 11 of 22 for 98 yards. He did not throw an interception, but that’s where the good news ends.

“For (the defense) to play like that, we’re lucky to have them on our side,” Mayfield told reporters in his post-game interview. “I have to pick it up. That poor performance isn’t going to cut it. So I’ll get better. Luckily we can lean on those guys and run the ball when we need to.”

Let’s stop pretending Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. are in sync. Mayfield did not force the ball to Beckham into double coverage as he did in 2019 and last year. But he missed when Beckham was wide open, most notably with 1:13 to play when Beckham was running down the right side of the field.

A completion to Beckham would have resulted in a touchdown and iced the game. As it was, the defense had to come up with one last stop.

The Vikings took possession on their 28 with 1:01 to play after Jamie Gillan punted for the sixth time in the second half. They advanced the ball to the Browns’ 26 with three seconds to play.

The defense was gassed. Kevin Stefanski wisely called a timeout so the Myles Garrett Gang could catch their collective breaths.

Cousins’ final pass bounced harmlessly in the end zone as time ran out. The Browns were almost too weary to celebrate. Almost.

Mayfield says his left shoulder, injured making a tackle after throwing an interception (he is righthanded) in the Houston game Sept. 19 isn’t an issue. He clearly misses Jarvis Landry, but Landry must miss at least one more game with the knee injury that landed him on injured reserve Sept. 21.

Left tackle Jedrick Wills could not finish the game. He needs a week off to let his injured left ankle heal.

“What a great performance by our defense,” Stefanski said. “That’s a really good team we played today.

“It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we have plenty of work to do and time to do it.”

The Browns are 3-1, tied with Cincinnati for in the AFC North. It is a good place to begin the home repairs that need fixing.