Baker Mayfield putting up stellar numbers versus Ravens

The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens have quite the quarterback battle going on and so far, Baker Mayfield has put up the superior numbers

The rivalry between Baker Mayfield‘s Browns and Lamar Jackson‘s Ravens is just getting started, but Mayfield is off to a flying start, putting up huge numbers in the three games he has started in his brief career.

In the 40-25 victory, Mayfield completed 20-of-30 passes for 342 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He was sacked once, but only once in contrast to 11 sacks in the first three games.  Was this stellar performance a fluke?

Not if you examine the record from 2018, which shows that the Ravens have so far not had an answer for Mayfield’s passing.

Mayfield started twice against the Ravens and put up huge numbers both times. The first time, in Week 5 of the 2018 season,  Mayfield came out on top in a 12-9 overtime win, with the difference being a wobbly field goal from Greg Joseph.

In that game Mayfield put up 342 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception.  Amazingly, those are the exact same numbers as in Sunday’s 40-25 victory. So if you are looking for consistency, boy, have we got consistency here!

In the last game of the season in 2018, the Browns lost to a Jackson-led team, 24-22 (the first game featured Joe Flacco as the starter, although Jackson was used as a middle innings reliever in that game. Mayfield, however, racked up 376 yards passing on 23 completions from 42 attempts, with three touchdown passes.

However, he also threw the ball three times to the guys in the purple jerseys.  Jackson’s passing numbers weren’t fantastic (14 of 24 for 179 yards, zero touchdowns and no picks), but the Ravens pounded the rock for 296 yards on 47 attempts, an average of 6.3 yards per carry.

Overall, the three-game average shows that so far the Ravens have found no answer for Mr. Mayfield, despite the fact that they are a very good defensive team. Mayfield has shredded the Ravens for an average of 353.3 passing yards per contest, which is totally crazy.

Jackson is 1-1 as a starter, and if his rushing yards are added to has passing yards, he has been responsible for an average of 291 total yards per game.   Those are very respectable numbers, but Mayfield’s are better.

The Browns beat a very good team. This analyst has been saying all along that both teams are likely to make the playoffs, and both have quality quarterbacks, with Mayfield doing greater damage through the air, and Lamar Jackson leading what is arguably the NFL’s most dangerous ground game.

In the 40-25 loss, the Ravens still gained 6.0 yards per carry and 173 yards overall, showing that they are formidable even in defeat.

Last week’s overreaction Monday was that Mayfield was overrated, over the hill in his second year. This week’s overreaction is that he is an unstoppable juggernaut that the Ravens cannot contain.

Neither view is correct, but it is fair to say that Mayfield has had three tremendous games against the Ravens, and they are still looking for a way to slow him down.