Browns: Baker Mayfield wasn’t the problem against the Steelers

Too many pundits are taking shots at Baker Mayfield today for all the wrong reasons after the Browns and Steelers squared off for week six.

Baker Mayfield was sacked four times on Sunday and hit another seven. Case Keenum came as relief for Mayfield to end the 3rd quarter and got hit as well. That’s 12 times a quarterback got smashed Sunday trying to throw the ball. Out of 28 dropbacks. That means that a Browns quarterback was hit 43% of his throws. Nearly half. Yet, the issue everyone is talking about on Monday is that “Baker Mayfield isn’t the answer for the Browns”.

How can anyone be the answer when they get walloped nearly half the time he dropped back to pass? Not just that, the Browns running game was dead on arrival. No matter where Mayfield turned for support there was none. Often the Steelers outside linebackers would line up on the outside of the tight end, only to come in unblocked and lay waste to Mayfield. He looked like a cat trying to avoid a bath the entire game. Jack Conklin was confused at the line of scrimmage more times than one can count, oftentimes having two guys coming at him at the same time, and often times not being able to slow either.

Jedrick Wills got beat, plain and simple, nearly all day, and Joel Bitonio has again had a bad game, causing a genuine question to be asked if he has regressed significantly?

Yet, Mayfield gets all the blame for forcing something to happen. Maybe Mayfield can win in Cleveland, maybe he can’t. Do you know what is known for sure? Case Keenum sucked just as bad as Mayfield against Pittsburgh. He only completed 50% of his passes, he was overwhelmed by the pass rush too, and his receivers let him down just like they did for Mayfield.

This is one game out of six.

The worst part is, people don’t put context to anything anymore. Tony Grossi pointed out that Mayfield had thrown four interceptions in four quarters at some point during the Steelers game. What Grossi didn’t point out is that for three of those quarters Mayfield had severely bruised ribs. It boggles the mind that this needs to be said, but you can’t throw well when your ribs are messed up. If you don’t realize how much you utilize your abdomen in athletics and in life, you’re foolish. Mayfield never should’ve started against Pittsburgh. He couldn’t even throw after he got injured against the Colts and it was pretty obvious. In the game in Pittsburgh, the announcers talked about how he couldn’t sleep normally due to the injury.

You can’t sleep normally, but you can still throw normally? Come on, use some common sense here.

If Mayfield’s ribs are still that banged up, then starting Keenum is the way to go. If his ribs are healed up enough for the Bengals game, then let him go out there and show what he can do. He’s clearly got the arm and the talent. Some players just need time. Look at Ryan Tannehill, Josh Allen, and Alex Smith. Three guys who everyone thought wouldn’t develop. They all have to elite or near-elite levels.

Mayfield has the arm, and he has the ability, he just needs to develop consistency. The team is 4-2 for crying out loud so he’s doing something right. Mayfield went on a run where he threw two touchdowns in every one of those four wins. Let’s not discredit all he’s shown in year three because of two games, that even the head coach claimed was more on him than the players.

That said, this is the same fanbase who thought Brian Hoyer was the quarterback of the future. So, maybe criticizing the best quarterback by far in 21 years is par for the course. The best thing to do is give Mayfield the season and see how things pan out. If he ends up playing well and they win but he doens’t turn into a top five quarterback, who cares? That’d be enough.

Just win, that’s all that matters.