Baker Mayfield capped a heroic winning drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones in Browns' 37-34 win. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Something clicked in Baker Mayfield after an awful 0-for-5, one-interception start. And by the end of an exhilarating, nose-to-nose slugfest with Heisman Trophy brother and fellow No. 1 pick Joe Burrow of Cincinnati, Mayfield emerged a confident gunslinger once again.
Mayfield buried his two-week status as an embattled quarterback with a signature 37-34 victory over the Bengals that saw him:
With Odell Beckham Jr. out early in the game with a potentially serious knee injury, Mayfield found his former self from 2018, connecting with five receivers who made contested catches all over the field.
“He loves to call himself a gunslinger,” said Myles Garrett, who had two sacks of Burrow and another forced fumble. “Hell, I agree with him completely. He is going to live or die by his arm. He is going to believe in it. Wherever he puts it, he is going to try to make the best possible play he can on that play. We live and die by that. Whatever happens, we are going to have his back. If we have to go out there and put out the fire, we will. Just like today, he is going to win the game for us and we couldn’t be more proud.”
Burrow (35 of 47 for 406 yards, three TDs and one interception) built leads of 10-3, 17-10, and 20-17 through three quarters. The Browns took their first lead early in the fourth quarter, lost it, took it back, lost it again, and then took it back for good with 11 seconds left.
After tossing touchdowns to tight ends Harrison Bryant (of three and six yards) and David Njoku (16), and running back Kareem Hunt (eight), Mayfield rediscovered his magic touch with personal fave Rashard Higgins (six catches, 110 Yards), and then willed the game-winner from 24 yards to rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones in the right corner of the end zone.
The breath-taking nature of this classic Battle of Ohio was such that somehow Burrow had time to launch a last-gasp Hail Mary from his 42-yard line on the final play. The prayer had a chance to be answered, but the ball tumbled to the ground in the end zone after deflecting off safety Sheldrick Redwine with A.J. Green close by.
“Oh, man, it was a little nerve-wracking,” said guard Joel Bitonio.
Garrett said he was thinking, “’Please God, don’t let him catch it.’ When I saw it get bobbled in the air, and I was like, ‘Oh, if he catches this off this tip, I am going to lose it.’ It didn’t come to that.”
Considering everything – the slow start after enduring a difficult two weeks, being doubted by everyone including the adoring analytics community, playing with was reported during the game to be a cracked rib, without Beckham, and with receiver Jarvis Landry also playing with a broken rib – it was Mayfield’s finest moment as Browns quarterback. It was the first time he won a high-scoring contest against a quality quarterback on a final drive.
“To see the way the quarterback responded in this game … I just could not be more impressed with how he played, including that last throw there,” said coach Kevin Stefanski, whose team rose to 5-2.
“Every time I looked at him on the sideline, he had that steely look in his eyes. He was not going back down. I think that is the story of Baker. There is nothing coming his way that he has not seen before. Really proud of how he responded.”
For the second week in a row, Mayfield was intercepted on his first pass of the game. After going 0-for-5, he ripped off a franchise-record 21 completions in a row until a spike of the ball to stop the clock. His last pass was on the money to Peoples-Jones, who soared above Darius Phillips for his first career touchdown.
Phillips had intercepted Mayfield’s first pass. It was on Phillips’ runback that Beckham injured his left knee in a pileup after chasing the play.
“Donovan going up to the line of scrimmage and [we] have a vertical seam called. Number 23 [Phillips] got me earlier in the game and I had to get him back,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield’s winning drive began by avoiding a sack and throwing for 13 yards to Peoples-Jones. Then he got the ball to Higgins, who made the catch falling to the ground and having the presence of mind to roll out of bounds to stop the clock. With 40 seconds left, Mayfield connected with Higgins for 30 yards over Phillips to set up the game-winner to Peoples-Jones after the spike play.
Peoples-Jones also had a reception for 19 yards on a receiver option pass from Landry on the drive that gave the Browns a 31-27 lead. Landry also had two runs with the ball and five receptions with that broken rib.
Overall, the Browns’ defense gave up 468 yards in 81 plays to a team now 1-5-1. If nothing else, it served the purpose of forcing Mayfield into finding his game that had deserted him for far too long. And it forced Stefanski into letting Mayfield play freely for the first time in a shootout.
“You are going to play in these type of games every year in the NFL,” Stefanski said. “You are going to have to come and win a game in a two-minute drive. I told the team last night, ‘You might have to go win it on the last play of the game.’
“Can we build off of that? Absolutely, there are a ton of things we can build off as long as we make sure that we are cleaning up in the areas that we need to clean up.”
One more game against the Las Vegas Raiders before their bye, the Browns now have won the kind of game that legit playoff teams win. They’re 5-2 and the quarterback has won over a bunch of believers.