Baker Mayfield and his Cleveland Browns came away with an absolutely huge win over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon.
For Cleveland, the 24-22 victory kept the team in playoff contention with four games remaining. However, this win didn’t come easy. The Browns boasted a 24-6 lead at halftime, only to see Baltimore outscore them 16-0 in the second half.
After the game, Mayfield seemingly put his coaching staff on blast for conservative play-calling.
“We did enough to win the game, so check that box off, but got conservative. I think we need to put that team away. We got ahead early, just need to capitalize when the defense is playing like that and holding them to points,” Baker Mayfield said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “We need to put it away. That’s what good teams do, so we need to improve on that. But we were better in the red zone today and on third down. That’s something that obviously, I’ve talked to you guys about. So we just need to play better in those situations to put the game away.”
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Baker Mayfield and Cleveland Browns drama
Before the game, Kay Cabot reported that there’s a disconnect between Mayfield and head coach Kevin Stefanski’s play-calling. The very same report indicated that certain members of the Browns’ defense are unhappy with Mayfield and his inability to put up points.
Prior to Sunday’s win, Cleveland ranked 19th in the NFL in scoring at 21.2 points per game. It had tallied all of 26 points over the past two games.
As for Sunday’s game, Mayfield completed 22-of-32 passes for 190 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Does this mean we could be looking at a trade during the off-season? There’s been no suggestions that this is the case. However, continued drama between Baker Mayfield and his Browns coupled with missing out on the playoffs could lead to rumors.
All of this comes after a 2020 campaign in which Cleveland won 11 games and earned its first playoff appearance since 2002.
There’s also this whole contract thing. Mayfield and the Browns were unable to come to terms on an extension this past off-season when he first became eligible. That could, too, play a role once the spring comes calling.
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