4 Reasons the Cleveland Browns will beat the Raiders in Week 8
By Greg Newland
1. Mayfield Finally Takes Charge
The biggest reason the Browns will come away 6-2 after playing the Raiders is the coming-out party of Baker Mayfield. It doesn’t necessarily make sense as to why he plays better without Beckham on the field, but for whatever reason, that appears to be the case.
After starting 0 for 5 last week, Mayfield finished the game with 22 of 23 straight completions. The only pass he missed was a spike to stop the clock before the game-winning touchdown pass. On top of that, Mayfield threw for five touchdown passes. That hasn’t happened since Derek Anderson achieved that in the 2007 season where he and Braylon Edwards made the pro-bowl.
Mayfield’s 297 yards is by far his best performance of the year, as well as his 97.3 quarterback rating. And while it’s extremely exciting to see him have a game like this after some struggles, especially in the second half of games. This trend must continue for the Browns to get to where they want to be.
Some teams can get away with a game manager at quarterback and be good, but unfortunately, the Browns defense just isn’t good enough for that. The Cleveland offense will likely have to score 30 plus points in every game to have a good shot at winning.
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The good news is, that’s not a long shot with the weapons they have. I expect Mayfield to put together back-to-back tremendous performances and get all the fans (and some of the media) back on his side. Browns by 6 points in a close game that goes back and forth the whole way.