Cleveland Browns: Joe Burrow outplaying Baker Mayfield would spell doom

Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield can’t be outplayed by Bengals’ Joe Burrow.

If Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow outplays Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on Thursday Night Football, get ready Dawg Pound, because you’ll be enduring eight months of mock draft with prognosticators picking the team’s next field general.

The Bengals aren’t as bad as they’re made out to be, but there should be no excuses for the Browns. Cincinnati is beatable. The game’s in Cleveland. The bright lights of Thursday Night Football are on, even though there may just be 6,000 fans. This is a winnable game and the Browns, in theory, should be able to take care of business.

If Mayfield gets outplayed the way Carson Palmer outplayed Derek Anderson back in 2007, OK. At least the offense will have showed signs of life.

But if Mayfield is inaccurate, turning the ball over and unable to move the chains, while his adversary does the opposite, the chatter surrounding Mayfield’s future will crescendo into a boom.

He’s also got to be better from a clean pocket. The 2018 Heisman winner is better on the move, but teams have made the adjustments, being, let him stay in the pocket. When he does, he’s proven to be nothing special.

Take Week 1, for example. When throwing from a clean pocket, Mayfield completed 19-of-34 passes (55 percent) for 164 yards, according to PFF. That stat gets more disturbing considering Mayfield had 3.0 seconds to throw, the third most allotted time recorded by a quarterback in Week 1. Only Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen had more.

Some of the stink emanating from Mayfield’s game has to come from Kevin Stefanski, and hopefully, the gameplay is altered in Week 2.

Browns fans were sold on moving pockets, high-percentage throws to tight ends–things that would enable Baker to be successful, yet, save for a 1-yard TD pass to David Njoku, we never saw it.

Meanwhile, Burrow, who didn’t set the world on fire, was solid in Week 1. His team was in position to beat the Chargers on the final drive. He’s bigger and isn’t as likely to have balls batted down from the pocket. He runs on designed plays, which doesn’t seem to be a part of Mayfield’s game.

Browns fans want nothing more than to see Baker turn things around and take the Browns to the Super Bowl, but with a decision surrounding a future contract drawing nearer, he’s got to start giving the Browns a reason to make an investment.