by After 23 games, the painful fact is loud and clear, the OBJ and Baker Mayfield tandem simply doesn’t work. Baker has started 36 NFL games, and the ones without OBJ in the lineup have been far superior. Sometimes the truth hurts, and today we all had to face it. Today’s dramatic 37-34 win proved that!
Without OBJ, Baker Mayfield went on to complete 22 straight passes en route to a 297-yard, 5 touchdown performance for the ages! Mayfield led the Browns on multiple come from behind drives, including two of them in the fourth quarter alone. Today without trying to force the ball to OBJ, Baker Mayfield didn’t just look good, he looked elite.
Rashard “Hollywood Higgins” re-appeared without OBJ and went off for 110 yards on 6 catches with a touchdown. If you recall, Higgins was Mayfield’s favorite target his rookie season. Perhaps it is time to let it fly to Hollywood again.
The Browns had hoped for some steals in the recent 2020 NFL draft on defense, and have missed the boat on that thus far. As rookie Grant Delpit is out for the season, and Jordan Elliot with Jacob Phillips have done next to nothing. However, they did hit big with their late round offensive picks as both Harrison Bryant and Donovan Peoples Jones were major factors in todays win.
Bryant has been the steal of the Browns draft as his big season continued. Bryant caught 4 more passes today for 56 yards and 2 huge touchdowns. Fellow rookie DPJ also stepped up late when the Browns needed it the most. He pulled in 3 Mayfield tosses for 56 yards including the game winning touchdown with only 15 seconds to go.
Kudos to coach Stefanski for going for the win, and not settling for a field goal attempt to get it to overtime. As we saw on the extra point, Cody Parkey is far from a sure thing on any kick. Stefanski played to win, he didn’t play “not to lose” and he is now 5-2 as a head coach in the NFL.
As good as today’s win feels for Browns fans, there is no ignoring however that their defense is horrendous. For the second time this season, rookie sensation Joe Burrow lit them up. Today Burrow went off for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns.
He did take 4 sacks however, 2 of which from Myles Garrett. The Browns may set a record this season, giving up the most points by a team and still having a defensive MVP in Garrett. He has been that good!
Kareem Hunt continued to step up in the absence of Nick Chubb. Hunt rushed for 76 yards on only 18 carries and also caught 3 balls for 26 yards and a touchdown. David Njoku made a special appearance today, catching 2 balls for 20 touchdown and a diving touchdown.
Down 10-3 late in the second quarter, Mayfield led the Browns on a drive to even the score. He would find Harrison Bryant from the 3-yard line as the rookie has been a sure handed target all year.
The Browns defense did what it has been doing since 1999 however, and gave up points in the closing seconds of the first half. This time on a Joe Burrow to Tyler Boyd 11-yard touchdown strike to give the Bengals a 17-10 halftime lead.
Yet again, Mayfield would find Harrison Bryant in the endzone to tie the game for the Browns on the opening drive of the third quarter. It showed good leadership and poise from Mayfield to come out of the locker room firing away and staying hot. The Bengals would close the quarter ahead 20-17 after a Randy Bullock field goal, then both teams spent the fourth quarter swapping the lead.
Burrow and Mayfield combined to throw 5 touchdowns passes in the fourth quarter. Mayfield had his to Njoku to put the Browns up 24-20 for the first time all game. Then down 27-24, Mayfield struck again with a 8 yarder to Kareem Hunt to put them back up 31-27.
Finally, down 34-31 in the closing moments, Mayfield led a 75-yard drive through the air, capped off with the DPJ catch in the corner of the endzone to win it. Mayfield put that ball where only his wideout could catch it.
The good news, Mayfield played the best game of his career.
The bad news, our defense gave up multiple fourth quarter leads.
The eye opening news – The Cleveland Browns “may” be better without OBJ
