Baker Mayfield made it tough in 2021 for supporters to stay positive

Baker Mayfield laid an egg Monday night for the Cleveland Browns, why is there hope that he will be the team’s savior moving forward?

The Cleveland Browns offense was nothing less than an embarrassment on Monday night football as Ben Roethlisberger notched another mark in his belt in his final home game at Heinz Field.

I truly have never seen as poor of performance on offense all the way around. The late touchdown pass to Harrison Bryant made things look a little better than they really were.

At one point in the game, Baker Mayfield had missed 10 straight passes, with four of those being batted at the line and one of them being intercepted. His accuracy was awful, and even open receivers didn’t stand a chance.

Mayfield finished the evening 16 of 38, with 185 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Once again T.J. Watt owned the Browns right tackle and the team had nine total sacks. You read that right, nine sacks.

Mayfield looked awful, and half of those sacks were his fault holding the ball far too long, but James Hudson was a complete disaster at right tackle which made things even worse.  \The icing on the cake you ask – Nick Chubb was averaging nearly five yards per carry and only got 12 touches. Maybe there was an injury the team didn’t disclose, but it made absolutely no sense.

I know Mayfield is injured and I know he had a lot of pressure in his face last night, but he just must be better if he’s going to be the answer in 2022 and beyond.

I’ve gone back and forth a thousand times trying to convince myself that he can be the guy moving forward, but I’m just not sure anymore. If he’s truly injured, let Case Keenum play, that’s why you are paying him top dollar – and it apparently took until Week 18 to make that realization. If Mayfield is healthy enough to be on the field, there are zero excuses about an injury in my opinion.

It will be tough for Andrew Berry to find a replacement option in 2022 at quarterback because the fifth-year option on Mayfield is fully guaranteed, but man he should be looking to get creative.