5 Bold predictions for Cleveland Browns in Week 2 vs. Bengals

3. Mayfield throws no picks

This weekend was one to forget for Baker Mayfield. After hearing all offseason about how new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s running-based offense was going to help open things up for Mayfield, the first weekend was the exact opposite of that. Mayfield’s first drive ended with him throwing a pick, and throughout the rest of the game, he seemed hesitant and didn’t trust what he was seeing on the field.

In the past, this has been due to poor offensive line play, but that wasn’t the case on Sunday. Instead, it was on Mayfield as he was the one who was out of rhythm — and nothing he tried got him back on track.

Of course, we all heard that this might be coming. Reports out of Berea during training camp informed us that the offense was a little bit stagnant, especially the passing game. There’s a whole new system being installed and for Mayfield, this is his fourth offensive coordinators in only three seasons in the NFL. That’s not a recipe for success, but if the team stays patient with him and he trusts the coaching staff, this could end up working.

On Thursday night, look for things to slow down for Mayfield and company. In this prediction, Stefanski sticks with the ground game, and the fact that they won’t force-feed OBJ (see the previous prediction) will also help. Add that up and we have a game with no interceptions from Baker —which will hopefully just be one of many to come.