Another claim Browns will move on from Baker Mayfield with loss surfaces

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

That Jets team isn’t good, but they had beaten the Los Angeles Rams at full strength the week before. The Browns still had enough talent to pull out the win, but they were unable to.

This week, Cleveland will be without offensive line coach Bill Callahan and assistant offensive line coach Scott Peters, as well as tight end Harrison Bryant, linebackers B.J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith, safety Andrew Sendejo, and cornerback Denzel Ward.

The team has practiced once all week, a delayed session on Friday. That’s less than ideal, and will certainly have an impact on Sunday’s game. Still, just like last week, the Browns should have enough talent to get the job done. Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Heyward, Maurkice Pouncey, T.J. Watt, Joe Haden, and Terrell Edmunds are all out. The Steelers have nothing to play for other than the anguish of Cleveland fans.

This is a playoff game for the Browns, even if it’s not officially labeled as one. After what happened in 2019, a promise of a Week 17 play-in game against the Steelers would have sounded almost too good to be true.

Would it be incredibly disappointing to end the season with two losses (to teams the Browns should have beaten) and falling short of a playoff berth? Absolutely. Would it provide just cause to decline Mayfield’s fifth-year option and move on from him? Absolutely not, and it’s asinine to suggest that the front office would think that way.