Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield’s 5 worst games of 2020

Baker Mayfield’s 5 worst games of the 2020 season

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has proven this season that he is a franchise QB. He’s had a stellar second half, grading out as the third-best quarterback in the league per Pro Football Focus.

Things didn’t start out well, however, which just makes his improvement all the more impressive. Here are Mayfield’s five worst games from this season.

5. Week 16 at New York Jets

The final stat line doesn’t look great — 28-of-53 for 288 yards — but Mayfield played fine as a passer this game. The Browns were entirely unable to run the ball, and Mayfield was sacked four times. He fumbled on two of those sacks, losing both. He also fumbled on a fourth-down QB sneak on Cleveland’s final drive of the game that resulted in a turnover on downs, ending the comeback bid.

Mayfield threw the ball pretty well, but it’s hard to be an effective passer when you have two third-string linemen playing and your top four receivers were ruled out not 24 hours prior to kickoff. The only WR on the active roster who was not deemed a COVID-19 close contact was Marvin Hall, who had been with the Browns for less than three weeks at that point and hadn’t been active for a game yet. Mayfield spent the afternoon getting his receivers lined up and watching them run incorrect routes.

It wasn’t a good day for Mayfield, but it’s hard to blame him.