Sunday, December 26, 2021

Browns lose to Packers-All Baker Mayfield Edition

  Baker Mayfield threw four interceptions, two of them resulting in short-field touchdowns for the Green Bay Packers, and the Cleveland Browns playoff hopes took a severe hit with a 24-22 loss at Lambeau Field to Green Bay.

Mayfield threw two touchdown passes and Nick Chubb finished with 126 rushing yards with 58 receiving yards and a rushing touchdown to lead the Browns.

Cleveland slips to 7-8 with the loss and will attempt to keep their sinking playoff hopes afloat next Monday night in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.

Brownie Bits

1) Baler Mayfield was terrible.

None of his four interceptions were tipped passes and the first and third were just awful throws.

I know the Baker excuse posse is in full excuse mode but there is not a realistic way to excuse such a terrible outing.

2) I know Baker missed time on the practice field due to his Covid status but he didn't have any less time to prepare than Nick Mullens did against the Raiders.

3) A quick look at the four interceptions- the first and third led to Green Bay touchdowns on short field drives, the second was in the red zone that cost the Browns points in a two-point loss, and the final one ended the game. The prosecution rests.

4) I know that Jarvis Landry slipped on the third interception but watch the replay.

Landru slips but Rasul Douglas is sitting on that pass and even if Landry doesn't slip, Douglas is in position for an easy interception.

5) And while I do think that the officials missed the grab of Donovan Peoples-Jones before the second interception by Rasul Douglas that ended the final drive, look at where the ball was thrown.

I'm not sure that Peoples-Jones catches that ball even if he isn't held and best the Browns have a fourth and ten at the fifty-yard line.

6) And why was that drive in a third and ten situation?

Because Mayfield threw a ball to an open David Njoku, who would have gained at least ten to fifteen yards, that had it been thrown by a baseball pitcher would have been described as low and outside.

This is two plays following missing Njoku on a second and six with another terrible toss.

7) It's pretty clear that Kevin Stefanski doesn't trust Mayfield but at the same time, he puts the game in his hands at crunch time.

The Browns had all three timeouts before the final drive started and they finished the final drive with three timeouts after the Mayfield interception, so they could have run the ball more with Nick Chubb, who Green Bay couldn't stop all day.

Instead, the offense was filtered through Mayfield for the final few plays and the reasoning from Stefanski was that they were playing for a touchdown rather than a field goal since the Browns were using a first-time kicker in the league in Chris Naggar.

Naggar had missed an extra point earlier, so I understand the thinking to a degree but your quarterback is still Baker Mayfield.

8) The Browns were mentioned in a recent piece by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer as being a team considering dealing for Deshaun Watson in the offseason.

While Watson carries risk with his off-the-field woes, I'd be okay with the gamble depending on the cost.

Watson would be a massive upgrade over Baker Mayfield but could never play for Cleveland should his legal problems causes a suspension.

Cleveland under Sashi Brown could have drafted Watson with the 12th pick in 2017 but chose to trade down to 25 (selected safety Jabrill Peppers of Michigan ) and for the Texans 2018 first-rounder which they selected Denzel Ward.

Ward is a very good cornerback but in hindsight- a poor trade for the Browns.

I will be back later or tomorrow with other thoughts on the Browns vs Packers that will cover the non-Baker Mayfield topics.

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