Browns: 3 players who need to step up against the Chiefs

Baker Mayfield

Obligatory Baker Mayfield selection. While it’s obvious that he has done more than enough to warrant not just a fifth-year option but a new contract, there’s still more for the third-year quarterback to prove. He went back-to-back with wins over the Steelers, so that’s a darn fine start to his post-season career, but why stop there?

The last Browns quarterback in an AFC title game was Bernie Kosar. If Mayfield can get to that game, with the awful defense he has behind him, then that would put Mayfield in air so rarified, it’d actually be more impressive than anything Kosar or Brian Sipe ever did.

Not only that, but Mayfield going up against a fellow Big XII quarterback, one he has history with. Defeating Mahomes wouldn’t just be a huge win for this team, but it’d be huge for his career. While the Steelers win is a statement game, where the monkey finally got tossed, a win over Mahomes and a birth in the AFC title game would make him one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Made even more interesting is the fact that if Mayfield can play well, and get the team to the next round, then he’ll have the opportunity to face off the other two quarterbacks from his draft class that are worth a darn.

A win over them would be Earth-shattering and would propel Mayfield to a top-five conversation. It all starts with taking it to the Chiefs, however. Not turning the ball over, extending plays, and being pinpoint accurate is Mayfield’s bread and butter. The Chiefs aren’t known for their defensive prowess, and that means that Mayfield could very well carve them up.

This is a game that could rewrite the book on Mayfield, he just has to come through again for the team.