Cleveland Browns: 4 players who will be key to winning in Week 5

The Cleveland Browns will get tested big time this Sunday when they travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Chargers for a Week 5 showdown.

Last week, the Cleveland Browns went to Minnesota and came out with a win, improving to 3-1 on the season. The game was not pretty in certain aspects, but great teams find ways to win on the road, which is never easy in the NFL.

There has been a plethora of questions, comments, and concerns voiced all over social media, and rightfully so.

The player with the most questions surrounding him is exactly where we will start.

Cleveland Browns player who will be key No. 4: Baker Mayfield

There is a lot to say right now about Baker Mayfield, some of which is warranted and some of which is just pure foolishness.

First off, Baker played one of the worst games of his entire career in Week 4 against the Vikings. He completed 15-of-33 passes for 155 yards. He was also sacked three times. One positive of that is the fact he didn’t turn the ball over.

Okay. There it was. Baker played poorly last week and wasn’t much better the week prior. He isn’t immune to criticism when it is warranted.

Baker even admitted as such.

Dawg Pound Daily’s own, Sam Penix wrote all about Baker and everything surrounding the fourth-year QB.

The last couple of weeks Baker has been… off. He has missed a ton of throws that he doesn’t normally miss. In Week 4, Mayfield failed to make the huge throw to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on multiple occasions.

Time for the second point of discussion. In Week 2, after an errant interception, Mayfield attempted to make the tackle. On the play, his left, non-throwing shoulder was popped out of place.

Both Mayfield and head coach Kevin Stefanski is saying that the shoulder is not an issue. It has to be questioned the validity of those claims, as even with a non-throwing shoulder injury, it can affect how Baker throws the ball.

Regardless of what the issue is, or how poorly Baker has played over the last few weeks, he needs to get it figured out. He will tell you as such and knows that he always has room to improve.

The Week 5 showdown against Justin Herbert and the Chargers could be one of those games where Baker redeems himself and shuts a lot of people up.

This brings us to the third and final point of emphasis in regards to Mayfield. One bad game has nothing to do with whether or not he will get the contract extension has earned. Every player in the history of sports has had a bad game or two, and a lot of them went on to be great.

Baker Mayfield is the franchise quarterback and that will not change. He always seems to play better when the deck is stacked against him, so we could be on the verge of another magical run from Mr. Mayfield.