Tag Archives: Baker Mayfield

Browns defeat Vikings 14-7 in ugly contest

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The Cleveland Browns came away with an ugly 14-7 win on the road over the Minnesota Vikings to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Anyone looking for an exciting game that was going to light up the scoreboard was highly disappointed with the final result in Minnesota. The Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings combined for just 21 points, 15 of which were on touchdown drives.

A development that was hardly surprising was the lack of efficiency in the passing game for both teams. Baker Mayfield was 15 of 33 for 155 yards while being sacked three times while Kirk Cousins completed 20 of 38 attempts for 203 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. While the Vikings passing attack was better than the Browns, neither was particularly good on the day. The big difference between Minnesota and Cleveland passing wise was that Justin Jefferson (6-84-1) and Adam Thielen (3-46) led the Vikings passing attack while the leading receiver for the Browns was Rashard Higgins with four catches for 63 yards. Any game that Higgins ends up being the leading receiver in signals larger problems that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

After his triumphant return last week, Odell Beckham Jr. recorded just two receptions for 27 yards on seven targets. This was certainly a game that the Browns missed Jarvis Landry, who is able to be a consistent source of production underneath that allows Beckham to produce down the field. Landry is expected to miss at least one more game before returning from injured reserve.

Luckily the Browns were able to make something happen in the running game since their passing attack was futile. Nick Chubb carried the ball 21 times for 100 yards and Kareem Hunt added 69 yards on 14 carries while also adding a touchdown on the ground.

At the end of the day the Browns won and that is the ultimate goal. One thing to keep an eye on is that the team has seemingly played worse in each game this season. At some point that is going to come back to burn them and that could happen as soon as this week against the Chargers. Doing just enough to win is fine when spaced out over a season, but it signals a much larger problem when that is how all of their wins have come during the first month of the season.

Observations from Browns win over Bears

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Thoughts and observations from the Cleveland Browns comfortable 26-6 win over the Chicago Bears.

Myles Garrett is incredible

Myles Garrett not only led the team in tackles with seven, but also led the team in sacks with 4.5, a new franchise record. The record was previously held by Andra Davis, quite the surprise considering Davis was an inside linebacker. Either way Garrett was impressive and it should be a good sign moving forward the best pass rusher on this defense.

Jadeveon Clowney finally did something

Garrett was not the only Browns defender to register multiple sacks as Jadeveon Clowney registered two. These were the first two sacks of the season for Clowney as he finally made a real impact in the pass rush department. 

Matt Nagy did the Browns defense a ton of favors

Poor Justin Fields. Matt Nagy did not put him in a good position at any point in the game the Browns defense teed off on him time and time again. Cleveland totaled nine sacks as the defense managed to hit Fields a combined 15 times. Nagy set up Fields to fail and that is exactly what happened. 

The return of Odell Beckham Jr.

Remember when people tried saying that the Browns are better without Odell Beckham Jr.? Pepperidge Farm remembers. The whole narrative surrounding the relationship between Beckham and Baker Mayfield was based on flawed information, context, and not enough data. Beckham made his season debut with a casual five receptions for 77 yards in addition to rushing for 10 yards. With Beckham in the lineup it gives Cleveland a big time threat in the passing game, something they truly needed over the second half of last season and in Week 1’s loss to the Chiefs. 

Kareem Hunt stepped up big time

Kareem Hunt is clearly not the featured back in this offense as that title deservedly belongs to Nick Chubb, but Hunt still managed to make an impact in the game. Hunt carried the ball 10 times for 81 yards and one touchdown, an impressive 29-yard run into the end zone. The running game was not the only area that Hunt made an impact in as he stepped up in the passing game leading the team with six receptions for 74 yards through the air. While the return of Beckham surely gets the focus, Hunt’s contributions cannot be dismissed as the Browns really needed someone to take on some of the workload that usually belongs to the injured Jarvis Landry and Hunt did just that. 

Only two touchdown drives

The Browns scored 26 points, won by 20, and there are a few concerns offensively. Cleveland only scored two touchdowns with Chase McLaughlin making all four field goal attempts to end up with their point total in the win. While this works just fine against a team like the Bears, when facing teams that are playoff contenders this is not acceptable. The Browns need to find a way to turn those field goals into touchdowns if they want their postseason run to last longer this time around. 

Baker Mayfield was okay, but needs improvement

Baker Mayfield finished the game 19 of 31 for 246 yards and a touchdown, the touchdown pass going to Austin Hooper which was his first passing attempt into the end zone this season. The numbers are a bit deceiving as Mayfield did have his fair share of off target throws, even having to be saved by Beckham a couple of times to prevent an interception. This was a case of the Browns winning a game with Mayfield and not because of him. Overall Mayfield still needs to improve and become more consistent over a longer period of time.

Final Thoughts

The Browns won and that’s great, they are now 2-1 on the year. This game, like the win last week against the Texans, was pretty gross to watch. Cleveland is obviously a better team than Chicago and were helped out by some mistakes from the Bears coaching staff. What the Browns really need to do next is win a game by a big differential and look good doing it. If they can do that things would definitely be falling into place for this team. 

Baker Mayfield has no structural damage in shoulder

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The Cleveland Browns got some good news as the MRI on quarterback’s shoulder did not show any structural damage.

It was a near disaster for the Cleveland Browns 0n Sunday in their 31-21 win over the Houston Texans as Baker Mayfield temporally exited the game with a shoulder injury. Luckily Mayfield was able to return to the game and guide the team to victory. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, an MRI on his shoulder did not show any structural damage.

Teammate Myles Garrett would comment on the toughness of Baker Mayfield, even going as far to compare him to Brett Favre.

With the injuries starting to pile up for Cleveland, avoiding a major injury with their starting quarterback has to be counted as a win.

Observations from Browns 31-21 win over Texans

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The Cleveland Browns won their first game of the season by holding off the Houston Texans 31-21. Getting the first win of the season is great, but there are some takeaways that need to mentioned and kept in mind for the rest of the season. 

Winning is great, but game was a lot closer than it should have been

This should have been a get right game for the Browns. In the past this was the type of game where the visiting team comes in, blows the doors off of Cleveland, and gets back on track for the next few games. Unfortunately this game was a lot closer than it should have been against a Texans team that does not have high expectations for the season. 

Outcome very well could have been different if Tyrod Taylor does not leave due to injury

Tyrod Taylor was moving the ball well and was very effective in the first half. There is a real chance that the final outcome is entirely different if Taylor did not have to leave the game with his injury. Cleveland’s defense had trouble with Houston’s offense for the entire first half. 

Defense is bad, like really bad

As mentioned above, the defense could not stop Tyrod Taylor in the first half. Davis Mills even looked okay at times, leading one successful scoring drive and another that resulted in a missed field goal.

Additionally, Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney were pretty much non-factors in this game. The only time they were really mentioned was when the broadcasting team said that they have not done much of anything. 

As of now it appears that the Browns defense performance in the 1st half of their loss to the Chiefs was more about Kansas City being off rather than the defense stepping up. 

Debut of Grant Delpit

Now for a positive defensive note, Grant Delpit looked good. Delpit made a couple of plays while only appearing in 43% of defensive snaps, but there is some hope here. Again, health will be a concern with him moving forward, but Delpit making plays in his first NFL game is encouraging.

Browns passing offense struggled despite deceiving numbers

Baker Mayfield was 19-21 for 213 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The 90% completion percentage is impressive, but deceiving. A lot of Mayfield’s throws were not far down the field and most of his yards came after the pass was completed, most notably on Demetric Felton’s 33-yard touchdown on a screen pass. While Baker executed and that’s great, there are some much larger issues at hand.

Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry were missed big time

When Jarvis Landry exited the game after the second play the passing offense did not have a legitimate threat in the passing game. This led to a lot of shorter passes from Mayfield and his 19-21 performance. The fact of the matter is that without Landry or Odell Beckham Jr. the passing game is very much unimpressive. Those who have been standing on mountaintops screaming for the team to move one or both players got a good long look at reality without the best receivers on the team. Currently without Beckham or Landry in the lineup the passing game is very much pedestrian at best. 

Not enough Nick Chubb

Nick Chubb finished the game with 11 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown. In a game without the two best pass catchers available it would have made a lot more sense to hand Chubb the ball a hell of a lot more. To compare, Kareem Hunt carried the ball 13 times for 51 yards, an interesting split to say the least. 

Limiting Chubb could be due to wanting to preserve him for later in the season when the Browns are hopefully in the playoffs. Well, in order to get back to the playoffs they need to win games earlier in the season to get there. While the Browns did win this one, the offense could have used the boost it would have gotten if they handed Chubb the ball more. Perhaps more attempts from Chubb results in the lopsided win it should have been and many expected it to be. 

Browns defeat Texans for first win of season

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The Cleveland Browns managed to come away with a 31-21 victory over the Houston Texans to win their first game of the season.

It was not the prettiest game, but a win is a win. The Cleveland Browns encountered a much tougher battle than expected, however they did prevail with a 10-point victory over the visiting Houston Texans.

Injuries were really the focus of the game. Jarvis Landry exited on the second play of the game and did not return due to a knee injury. Landry’s absence led to a what can only be described as a struggle fest for the passing game. Sure, Baker Mayfield completed 19 of 21 passes for 21 yards, but this is definitely a case where numbers lie. Mayfield was fine, but the passing game was far from the expected production, especially after last week when it appeared they might be a bit more explosive though the air. The fact of the matter is that without Landry or Odell Beckham Jr., opposing defenses are not scared of the Browns passing attack.

For the Texans it was one injury that changed the game, Tyrod Taylor. Taylor did not return after half-time after keeping things level with Cleveland. Houston had to turn to the inexperienced Davis Mills and it led to expected results. While there was a touchdown drive from the rookie, his passing numbers struggled overall as he completed just eight of 18 passes for 102 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

One more note about the Browns offense, where was Nick Chubb? Only 11 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown in the contest. Considering Cleveland was without their best two receivers one would think that they would put the ball in the hands their best offensive player, but apparently that was not the game plan for some reason. In fact, the still competent but less impressive Kareem Hunt had 13 carries to Chubb’s 11. Hunt finished with just 51 yards, averaging 3.9 yard per carry compared to Chubb’s 8.6.

After providing some hope during the first half of Week 1, the Browns defense struggled to do much of anything. Cleveland had a tough time stopping anything Houston through at them and that is a serious problem. There was the expectation that the defense would take some time to gel, but after Week1 the learning curve was expected to be significantly less.

The Browns are waiting on more information in regards to the injury to Landry. If he were to miss any time that would make their offense a lot less threatening, assuming Beckham is still out.

With the win Cleveland is now 1-1 on the year and they will look to move above .500 next Sunday as they take on the Chicago Bears.