Cleveland Browns: 5 best games of 2020

3. Week 7 at Cincinnati Bengals

Odell Beckham Jr. was lost to the season in this game, and Mayfield didn’t complete a pass in the first quarter. It was about as poor a start as one could imagine. And then, something clicked. The proverbial lightbulb went on for Mayfield, and since then, he’s been a completely different quarterback. It wasn’t just a turning point for the Browns season, or Mayfield’s season, or even Mayfield’s career.

It was a turning point for the franchise. Determined to win the game for Beckham, the Cleveland offense traded body blows with Joe Burrow and the Bengals, before Cincy took at 34-31 lead with 1:04 remaining and the Browns with no timeouts left.

What followed was special. Cleveland marched down the field thanks to some excellent throws from Mayfield and some great catches from Rashard Higgins and company, and the drive culminated with a fantastic touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones with just 11 seconds left to win the game. It was a special moment, because you could just feel that something had changed with both Mayfield and the team.

Since that game, Mayfield has looked better than he ever did as a rookie, and has been the catalyst behind Cleveland’s playoff run.