Cleveland Browns studs and duds from horrible Week 16 loss

Dud: Baker Mayfield, Quarterback

Perhaps no one was dealt a worse hand on Sunday than the starting quarterback. But, in the NFL, quarterbacks always take the most blame for a team’s loss. While Baker Mayfield’s statistics weren’t dreadful, his fumble in the first half that led to an immediate Jet’s touchdown took the winds out of their sail and it never was to return.

Many times, the receivers looked to be on a different page than Mayfield, which he can’t be blamed for, but he also was off on a lot of throws. Once again you could see all the pressure was in his head and he struggled to make quick reads and forced some inaccurate passes to open receivers.

Mayfield was never able to give the practice squad receivers a chance and just focused on check down after check down, which was never going to be enough to win the game. It was a huge ask by Browns fans, but they needed a huge game from Mayfield, and instead, he was below average. Three fumbles and a 52 percent completion percentage won’t win you many games in the NFL.

While the Browns are still in the 7th and final spot of the playoffs right now, they still have some work to do. Cleveland must now beat the Steelers in week 17 to make the playoffs. If that doesn’t happen, the only other hope is the Jaguars beating the Colts, which seems like a real long shot at this point. Mayfield can redeem this horrible loss with a win at home vs. the Steelers to clinch a playoff birth for the Browns.