Baltimore loss means Cleveland Browns still in AFC North race

Cleveland Browns can win with Mayfield well below 100 percent

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for what it’s worth, this fan believes Baker Mayfield is not nearly 100 percent, is not able to play his best game and should be benched in favor of Case Keenum for the balance of the season.

That doesn’t mean that Baker stinks and does not erase the fact that he rang up 48 points against the Steelers in a playoff game at Heinz Field. Nor does it mean that just because he has an injured left shoulder he should never get a long-term contract. If people start acting sane this whole thing can still work out.

As fans and writers alike, we certainly don’t get our way all the time, and it’s probably less than half the time. Sometimes the critics have complained that writers shouldn’t offer opinions contrary to head coach Kevin Stefanski’s. What are we saying, we know more than the coach?

Not exactly. It’s just that everyone has a right to an opinion. It’s kind of like voting. Nobody has to prove that they are smarter than the President of the United States in order to hold a political opinion or express that opinion at the ballot box or on the internet. Of course, most people probably really are smarter than the past few Presidents, but that’s a side issue.

Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, even the Pittsburgh Steeler fans who pretend to be Browns fans and constantly troll Mayfield and the Haslams in the comment sections of DPD. Do your worst, just keep it classy and don’t commit libel, please.

Anyway, let’s get back to Mayfield. Like it or not, we are stuck with a wounded first string quarterback who is struggling. The first two games of the season, Mayfield was 40 completions for 49 attempts, an 81.6 completion percentage, even better than he was the second half of 2020 as he mastered the Stefanski offense.

He did that without the great Odell Beckham, Jr., it might be added. Since the injury, however, he has sputtered at 154 completions in 263 attempts, for 58.6 completion percentage. That’s just not very good. In fact, it is near the bottom of the NFL.

Are there really fans who cannot tell the difference between 81.6 completion percentage and 58.6 completion percentage? And are there really fans who have forgotten about hanging 48 points on the Steelers in a playoff game at Heinz Field? And the same fans are the ones, no doubt, who know about a secret franchise quarterback who will last until, like, the 20th overall pick where the Browns can snap him up?

Nevertheless, we are in rough agreement that the passing game is stuck in low gear for a while. We aren’t getting Case Keenum, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up.

Guessing here is that defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is still not going to fear Mayfield this weekend. The Ravens are still going to stack the box against the run, even with their injury-depleted defensive secondary and whomever (Homeless Guy?) is playing cornerback for them.

Look for eight in the box and man-to-man coverage on Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and the tight ends. Will Mayfield make the Ravens regret it? It might not be a bad time to have Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt run a few pass patterns and even split wide on occasion.

Just because the Browns are having a tough time at a very important position doesn’t mean that they cannot win the game. They still have a great deal of talent on both sides of the ball, and the Ravens really are depleted.

The Browns have built their team to defeat the Ravens. Ever since 2018, this fan has been crying for a decent “spy” linebacker to cover Lamar Jackson. Well, when the Browns traded up for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in this year’s draft, it took about one millisecond to figure out why they did it.  Mr. Jackson, meet Mr. Owusu-Koramoah.

The Browns also have the fastest outside rushers in Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney.

Cleveland’s roster is designed to beat the Ravens. This is a must-win game. The stars have aligned for them to pull the rabbit out of the hat this time.