Cleveland Browns Week 16 Instant Reaction: Baker Mayfield throws game away
By John Suchan
While the Cleveland Browns played the Packers tough, their quarterback Baker Mayfield threw four interceptions and ruined their chance at a win
The Cleveland Browns had never played a football game on Christmas Day. I hope that this is their only one because they got beat by the Green Bay Packers 24-22.
What looked like a promising game for the team after they took a very early lead ended up as a nightmare especially in the first half as their quarterback Baker Mayfield inexplicably threw three interceptions. Those three picks were converted by the Green Bay offense and their quarterback Aaron Rodgers who picked apart Cleveland’s secondary.
Then with the game on the line and the Browns driving under two minutes, Mayfield again inexcusably threw his fourth interception on the night giving the Packers the win. There was a hold by the Packers defender on the pass directed at wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones that wasn’t called but again Mayfield’s decision to try and force a throw late when the team had another chance at the win can’t be defended.
The first half of the game was a tale of two quarterbacks as Rodgers never seemed unhinged while the Cleveland quarterback looked terrible, throwing passes inaccurately and ruining any chance for the team to stay in the game.
Cleveland had been dealing with numerous players on the Covid list over the last two weeks and they got many of their players back for this game, including Mayfield, Wyatt Teller, and Jarvis Landry. Even so, they suffered a loss and their faint playoff hopes were dashed away a bit more after this battle on Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Now, the Browns must win out and beat their divisional foes Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals over the next two weeks.
I had suggested coming into the game that the run game would be important to establish early and that they needed to grab the lead early. This team was not built to come back this season. They have struggled, especially late to score touchdowns and that was again on display.
While they did grab the lead at 6-0, Mayfield threw three interceptions on three of the next four drives. That gave the Packers good field possession, and they were able to convert those into touchdowns. That gave the Packers the lead at 21-12 and had to play catch up.