Numbers show Baker Mayfield has gotten worse since his injury

The numbers show clearly that since his injury, Baker Mayfield’s performance has declined.

The numbers for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield show clearly that since his separated shoulder in Week 2 against Houston, his performance has declined and continues to worsen. His terrible performance versus Green Bay is commendable for his tolerance of pain, but the result was a painful loss.

This writer has advocated for weeks that Case Keenum should have been the starter, and there was nothing about the Christmas disaster that convinces me otherwise. Even worse, Mayfield’s quest to show that he’s still a star seemed to take the ball out of the capable hands of Nick Chubb, who should have been the star of the game.

Mayfield’s critics were correct in this game, that not only is his throwing motion impaired, but so was his judgment. It couldn’t be more clear than after the first touchdown that Green Bay could not stop Nick Chubb and the short ball control game. This seemed to fuel Mayfield’s jealousy. On the next possession, it seemed as though Baker Mayfield was saying, “I’ll show you who the true star of this team is, and it ain’t Nick Chubb.”

So Mayfield cranked it up and threw the bomb to Donovan Peoples-Jones into double coverage as if it were desperation time in the fourth quarter. The predictable result was a Green Bay interception which led to a touchdown for them.

Several times the Browns ran the Run-Pass-Option or RPO. In this case, the quarterback has the option to hand the ball off or yank the ball back, call his own number, and pass the ball. So Mayfield decides to take the ball out of Nick Chubb’s tummy and go downfield. The results included, among other things, five sacks and four INTs.

The quarterback has to have a lot of gall to only give Nick Chubb 17 carries and only four for D’Ernest Johnson. A few weeks ago I kidded that Nick Chubb’s dad was going to make a video about him not getting the ball, but now I think that is exactly the case. Mayfield didn’t let his superstar teammates do their jobs.

Part of it has to do with coaching decisions, and some of it (RPOs and not using the running back in the flat) is the quarterback’s prerogative.

The case of D’Ernest Johnson is maddening. Only four carries is ridiculous for a player who has been with the team for three years and still has a career average of 5.47yards per carry. Anybody who has a career rushing average higher than Jim Brown should be allowed to have more than four carries per game. If it’s so important to rest Nick Chubb (which I doubt), 21 carries for the two running backs was still ridiculously low when they were averaging 8.76 yards per carry.

Mayfield dropped back 43 times to pass by my count (36 pass attempts; 2 rush attempts on aborted passes and five sacks). Chubb and Johnson had only 21 carries plus 6 targets. That’s absolutely, totally, positively beyond stupid. Not sure how much of that is play calling and how much is the quarterback, but it was the most successful rushing game of the season and the least successful passing night of the season, and yet Mayfield was given way more opportunities than the running backs.

This isn’t to say that it’s conscious on anyone’s part, but somehow, somewhere between the coach and the quarterback, there seems to be a subconscious jealous element that refuses to allow the team’s stars to do their jobs. Odell Beckham Jr.’s frustration now seems more understandable, as it’s obvious that not enough effort was made to get the ball into the hands of the two biggest offensive threats on the field versus Green Bay on Christmas; namely, Nick Chubb and, when Chubb was resting, D’Ernest Johnson.

This was madness and the team had to pay the price.

To summarize, the shoulder can get fixed. The INTS can get fixed. However, the extremely poor judgment and what seemed to be the lack of willingness to let Nick Chubb win the game for the team may or may not be fixable. That’s the greatest long-term concern going forward for this observer.

The next page shows how Mayfield’s performance was actually very high in the second half of 2020 and the first two games of 2021. Page three shows how his performance has deteriorated after the injury.