The Arizona Cardinals clearly did not respect Baker Mayfield and the passing attack of the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Nothing says we dare you to beat us through the air more than what the Arizona Cardinals did Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Arizona came out in a 6-2 front which does make running the ball more difficult, but dares the offense to throw the ball.
#Browns LG Joel Bitonio said the Cardinals ran a 6-2 defense for much of the game, which was designed to take away the run. Said it wasn't a surprise but makes it tough to run.
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) October 18, 2021
This speaks volumes about how teams view Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield did complete 19 of 28 pass attempts for 234 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but 57 yards came on the Hail Mary touchdown to Donovan Peoples-Jones at the end of the first half. It was a struggle throughout the game for Mayfield to complete passes, routinely not seeing guys running wide open and missing throws.
So far this season Baker Mayfield is 18th in passing yards (1,474), 25th in passing touchdowns (6), 13th in completion percentage (67.1%), 18th in passing for first downs (69), 16th in rating (97.8), 26th in QBR (41.5), and has been sacked the second-most times (18). If other teams apply a similar strategy when facing the Browns more often than not it will be successful. Mayfield is not able to make opposing teams pay when they dare him to throw and until that changes it will continue to be a problem.
