Cleveland Browns Instant Reactions: Baker Mayfield era begins
By Randy Gurzi
2. Baker Mayfield is a spark plug
The entire offense opens up with Baker Mayfield out there. His first drive ended with more yards than what Tyrod Taylor had mustered for the entire first half. The excuses for Taylor’s poor play were being fired from all over the place, but the simple truth is defenses didn’t respect his ability to throw the ball. They stacked the box to force the ball into his hands — and out of the running backs. Yes, he could break off some runs, but you can live with that since he wasn’t beating teams deep.
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With Baker, they looked like a team with a chance to compete in the AFC North. Mayfield finished the game 17-of-23 with 201 yards and he even caught a game-tying two-point conversion. While his stats were impressive — even more so since Jackson foolishly refused to let him work with the starters — what was more impressive was how much better everyone else looked.
Tight end David Njoku got involved, Jarvis Landry was given a chance to catch the ball in traffic, and Carols Hyde found some running room since the defense had to respect the pass. Rashard Higgins also got involved with 32 yards off three catches — expanding on his great preseason.
Mayfield was drafted to be the future of this team and he showed out in a big way. The future is here for the Browns and this is just the first of many wins with him under center.