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Cleveland Browns: 3 things we learned from Baker Mayfield’s debut

By Sayre Bedinger

CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 20: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates after making a catch on a two-point conversion attempt during the third quarter against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 20: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates after making a catch on a two-point conversion attempt during the third quarter against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 20: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates after a touchdown by Carlos Hyde #34 (not pictured) during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 20: Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates after a touchdown by Carlos Hyde #34 (not pictured) during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

1. This is now Baker Mayfield’s team

It was just a matter of time after the Browns selected him first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, but after his performance against the Jets on Thursday Night Football, there’s absolutely no question about who the leader of this Browns team is going forward.

This statistic cannot be overstated — Mayfield helped lead the Browns to their first victory in 635 days. This team has not been able to find a winning combination in nearly two calendar years. One of the best games they played as a team ended in a tie on their home field against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week one.

This Browns team was also on the cusp of a win against the Saints in week two. If not for some really bad field goal kicking errors by Zane Gonzalez, the Browns might be 2-0-1 right now instead of 1-1-1.

But the Browns aren’t going to be greedy this early in the season. They are essentially getting the chance to start with a clean slate in a division with no clear front-runner at this point because of the way Mayfield rallied the team.

He did a little bit of everything in this game despite the fact that he was not perfect and held onto the ball too long a couple of times, something we didn’t really see much from him at Oklahoma.

Now that Mayfield is the starter, he will get 10 days to prepare for the Oakland Raiders and will now be getting all of the first-team reps. This is his team now. The team and fans’ response to his entering the game on Thursday says all anyone needs to know.

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