3 terrible things from the Browns loss to the Packers
By Chad Porto
Baker Mayfield
I can defend some of Baker Mayfield’s play yesterday, I really can. I just don’t want to. Yes, three of those interceptions had some shenanigans attached to them. Two clearly missed pass interference calls should’ve been made. The refs were truly abysmal and I’m not a “blame the ref’s guy” but they missed at least a dozen calls yesterday; all affecting the Browns negatively. We already talked about this before. I absolutely can get some people wanting to lessen Mayfield’s mistakes. I can. At times yesterday, he looked phenomenal. Then other times he didn’t.
Inconsistent would be the word to describe him.
The second interception to Jarvis Landry when Landry fell? How was Mayfield supposed to expect Landry to lose his footing? I get that. Yet there was what, two dropped picks? Maybe it was just the one, but still, it wasn’t like Mayfield was throwing the most accurate ball all day. He looked great at times. He really did, and then he’d try and force something, and then he gets picked off.
It is hard for me to sit here and give him much praise at all when he easily could’ve had a three-interception day based on bad throws alone. There weren’t any real drops and the receivers had their best game in some time. The passing game was actually gaining yards! Mayfield outthrew Rodgers!
Yet it was the turnovers that allowed the Packers to score. I’m convinced had the Packers had a longer field on two of those three touchdowns, that they don’t score. At least not a touchdown.
I’m not saying Mayfield is “done”, because every quarterback has had a four-interception game before (Tom Brady has six 4-INT games), so it’s not some indictment that we can’t win with Mayfield but it is an indictment that his shoulder injury may be affecting his play severely.
He’s going to get a chance in year five, his contract is already picked up and unless they find someone wanting to take on his $18 million contract, he’s going to be a member of the team. I have a hard time believing that the Browns would pay $18 million for Mayfield, $6 million for Keenum, and $30+ million for someone like Russell Wilson.
$50+ million on quarterbacks is absurd. So give Mayfield year five, fully healthy, and then we’ll decide if he comes back or not. But dang, that game against the Packers hurt his standing.