Cleveland Browns: Week 17 instant reactions following loss to Ravens

The Cleveland Browns were much improved in 2018, but they still have much work to do before being considered the NFL’s elite. Their week 17 away contest with the Baltimore Ravens showed both sides of this equation.

It’s been a fun season for Browns fans, to say the least. After a 0-16 season, no one expected the Cleveland Browns to be anything special this season. And through two weeks, they really weren’t. Sure, they miraculously tied their archrival Pittsburgh Steelers, but then got back to the “Same old Browns” mantra with eight points left on the table by kicker Zane Gonzalez in week two.

But then, on a fateful September night in Cleveland, Baker Mayfield came in and turned the Browns around. Since then, they’ve collected seven wins and finished with their best record since 2007.

In week 17, they met the run-happy Baltimore Ravens and came back to reality for a bit. The Browns would lose by a score of 26-24. But, today was a day of milestones, and in honor of the Browns’ best season since 2014 at 7-8-1, let’s take a look at the positives from this one.

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Baker Struggles, But Shines

Baker Mayfield is the Cleveland Browns’ franchise quarterback. Finally, finally, after all this time, the Browns can go into a season knowing that they’ve got the right guy at the quarterback position.

He didn’t have his best game today, throwing three interceptions, but there were definitely a few shining moments in there.

First up, former Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman. The UCF product had a rough stretch to begin his career in Baltimore, but he has been tremendous in Cleveland. He caught Mayfield’s first touchdown, his 25th on the season, in the first quarter. Mayfield would proceed to tie the record with a strike to receiver Jarvis Landry.

And then, with 3:24 left in the fourth quarter, Mayfield made history.

A strike to rookie receiver Antonio Callaway would give Mayfield his 27th passing touchdown as a rookie. History was made, and it was awesome, even if the Browns didn’t get it done.

Chubb (Almost) Gets to Four Figures

Nick Chubb, Mayfield’s backfield mate, has also had a tremendous season. Despite barely playing throughout the first half of the season, Chubb’s power running style has granted him huge carries throughout the season. The running back has earned the nickname “Old School” throughout the course of his rookie campaign. Chubb hit 1,000-yards, but it was taken away from him at the last second. He will finish with 996 on the year.

Chubb’s 1,000-yard rushing campaign would have been the first Browns 1,000-yard season since 2010 when Peyton Hillis hit the four-figure mark. There’s a bright future for both Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb in the NFL, with both of them hitting massive milestones in their rookie seasons.

Looking Forward

This team, this fanbase, has so much to be excited about. The Browns may have come up short today, but looking to 2019 and the years beyond that, there is so much in store for the Cleveland Browns and the Dawg Pound.

Personally, this is the most fun I’ve ever had covering a Browns season. If this is the light at the end of the tunnel, the prize for enduring a 0-16 season, then it may have been worth it for Baker, Chubb, Ward, Avery, and all the other bright young stars in Cleveland. But until that 2019 opener, Instant Reactions must bid you all adieu. Go Browns!