5 Bold Cleveland Browns predictions against those hungry Lions

Baker Mayfield throws three touchdown passes in win

Mayfield hasn’t had a three-touchdown game this season and when you go back and look at his career his three plus touchdown games have been very few and far between. He actually had his most, in his rookie campaign where he threw four of them.

That 2018 season, the highlighted game was when the Browns went down to Cincinnati, where former Browns coach Hue Jackson decided to take a coaching job with the Bengals after being fired earlier in the season by the Browns. The move by Jackson wasn’t a very popular or very professional move and the Browns that day and their quarterback made sure he remembered the day.

Mayfield lit up Cincinnati for four scores and humiliated his former coach that day. The Cleveland quarterback also had his best game, via the touchdown throws, a year ago, again in Cincinnati when he dished out five scores. In that game, Mayfield connected for his fifth one when he hit wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones for the game winner in the closing seconds.

The Lions have given up 16 touchdown throws on the year. With everyone in the house thinking the Browns will hit the Lions with their run game early in the game Sunday, which I still think is the team’s best plan of action, don’t be surprised to see Mayfield trying early to throw a few bullets into the end zone.

Jarvis Landry will have an impact on the outcome of the game

With the news of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. being released by the Browns over two weeks ago, his teammate and friend Jarvis Landry is still back here with the Browns. Landry has struggled this season fighting injuries and more inconsistencies than usual for a receiver considered more sure handed then he has been. In the Browns loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers three weeks ago, Landry dropped a few passes and then lost a fumble inside the red zone as the Browns were driving late in the game on a potential game winning drive.

Landry has been much more reliable in his career. He’s only played in six games this year. He grabbed four catches last week up in New England, which actually was an improvement from the previous week’s game in Cincinnati where he only had three catches for 11 yards. His best game this year was in the first game where he went for 71 yards on five passes.

The four years in Cleveland have gotten him a lot of attention too because he’s making $14 million per season. To add insult to injury, he hasn’t scored a touchdown this year either. He’s never had more then nine touchdowns in a season, which happened in his last year with the first team he played for in the Miami Dolphins. However, this lack of solid touchdown production and games where he can get no more then 11 yards have to get better for his team to have better success moving forward.

So, for better or for worse, how Landry goes on Sunday, like it did a few weeks back against the Steelers, will definitely play into the final result.