Baker came up short in shootout with Lamar Jackson, but continues to show the Browns he’s the fighter they need
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baker Mayfield came up short in his shootout with Lamar Jackson after battling back from his costly interception, but continues to show the Browns he’s the fighter they need to compete in the tough AFC North.
During the Browns 47-42 loss to the Ravens in arguably the wildest game in the NFL this season, Mayfield picked the worst of times to snap his streak of five straight games and 187 straight passes without an interception.
With the Browns trailing 28-20 and backed up to their end zone, Mayfield threw to Rashard Higgins in the left flat, but linebacker Tyus Bowser swooped in and picked him off and returned the ball to 17 yard to the Browns’ 1.
J.K. Dobbins ran it in from there, and the Browns were suddenly down 34-20 with 4:21 left in the game. To add to the unbelievable drama of this affair, Jackson went to the locker room after that handoff to Dobbins to get some IV fluids for his cramping.
Mayfield, meanwhile, parlayed his anger at himself into touchdowns on his next three drives — all in the fourth quarter — to tie the game at 42 with 1:04 remaining. The final one came after Jackson came bounding out of the locker room to replace an injured Trace McSorley, who hobbled off the field with a knee injury.
Facing a 4th and 5 from the 44, Jackson scrambled out of trouble and lasered a 44-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Brown. Not to be denied Mayfield, went 4-for-4 for 75 yards on the ensuing drive, capped by a 22-yard catch and run by Kareem Hunt, who dove over the pylon to knot it at 42.
Unfortunately for the Browns, they left too much time on the clock for Jackson and kicker Justin Tucker, who kicked the gamewinning 55 yards field goal with two seconds left. The Ravens tacked on a safety after the Browns’ never-ending lateral-fest to end the game.
“Turning the ball over – we’ve talked about it – it hurts you,’’ Mayfield said. “That one hurts me, and it hurt the team. We just have to build on the fact that this team fights. I’m really proud of this team for fighting. That’s what I’d take out of this game, but we just have to be better.”
Coach Kevin Stefanski, who’s helped Mayfield regain his swagger this season, took the onus off his QB for the pick and put it on himself.
“He did battle,’’ said Stefanski. “On that interception, I’ll tip my cap to them. That was a good defensive call. It was a great play by [Bowser] dropping on a Fire Zone. We got fooled there. I got fooled there. Again, Baker kept battling and was leading the team, and we were moving the ball.”
Mayfield (28-of-47, 343 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 87.5 rating) shook his head no about Stefanski taking blame.
“They did a good job of dropping out, showing a look with three big guys on the edge on the left side,’’ Mayfield said. “No. 54 Bowser made a great play. I just have to be able to see him dropping in underneath that stop route and take care of the ball. Plain and simple, just take care of the ball and give ourselves a better chance to win. They got points off of that so it sucks.”
Mayfield got busy after that to atone for his mistake and try to get the Browns to 10-3, which would’ve been their best record since 10-2-1 in 1969.
“I hate turning the ball over,’’ he said. “It hurts the team, and I never want to do that. I want to put us in a position to win. I want to win anyway, shape or form. After that, we needed to score points on every drive and that was the mindset – move on and go to the next one.”
Mayfield’s first TD after the pick was a 21-yard TD pass —on fourth and 4 — in the back of the end zone to a diving Rashard Higgins, followed by a two-point conversion that bounced off Kareem Hunts and into those of Donovan Peoples-Jones. That cut the deficit to 34-28 with 13:36 left.
Next time out, Mayfield made like Jackson and scrambled and slid into the end zone for a 5-yard TD that put the Browns up 35-34 with 6:33 left. He spiked the ball with gusto into the wall of the stands.
Then came Jackson’s incredible post-IV TD, which Mayfield described as “like a scene out of a movie. …He’s a great player. You are just going to have to try to contain him.’’
Despite bringing the Browns back and giving them a chance, Mayfield had a tough time shaking the pick, only his eighth of the season.
“We never lost our belief in the fact that we had a chance to win that game,’’ he said. “Even down two scores, just continuing to fight and fighting for each other. Win as a team and lose as a team, but I can’t turn the ball over and put us in positions where they have easy points from the 1-yard line. That’s not our defense’s fault. That is my fault.”
Mayfield believes the hard-fought game will help the Browns in other big games down the stretch.
“There can either be good or bad to come from it,’’ he said. “You can start pointing fingers, but that’s not this team. We know that we can fight. We’re going to use it in a positive way. I know this team. I know the guys in this locker room. I know the staff. We’re going to handle it correctly.”
Stefanski complimented Mayfield for battling back, for extending plays with his feet and giving the Browns a chance at the end.
“That is what I expect of him,’’ he said. “He knows that. Playing this position, you’re going to have a couple of plays like that that you want back, and you have to flush it very quickly because you are onto the next one.”
Nick Chubb (17 carries, 82 yards, 2 TDs) also expects nothing less from Mayfield.
“He fought, just like everybody else,’’ Chubb said. “We follow Baker’s lead. We had a little adversity throughout the whole game, but that didn’t steer us away from what we wanted to do. We kept fighting to the end. This team competed today.’’
Kareem Hunt (6 carries for 33 yards and a TD, six catches for 77 yards and a TD) has watched Mayfield defy his critics the second half of the season.
“He’s no quitter,’’ Hunt said. “He believed we could go score and win this game, and we all did. He’s a winner. He wants to win and is a hard worker. I like a guy like that on my team. Baker is one heck of a quarterback.”
The Browns certainly think so too.
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