CLEVELAND — Early accolades begot poor play from the Cleveland Browns. Criticism then met with improvement.
Call it a coincidence (since it likely is) but don’t try convincing Baker Mayfield of that. He seems to get something out of believing the world is full of slings and arrows pointing his way — even though what most people said about the Browns was fairly obvious, hardly damning and less critical than what Mayfield said about himself.
“Anytime your quarterback sucks, it’s probably pretty hard to call plays,’’ Mayfield reasoned when asked about the play calling in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
In the next breath he claimed critics “threw us in the trash (and) we won’t forget that.”
Wait. I thought if they weren’t wearing brown and orange, they didn’t matter.
It seems entirely possible for Mayfield (and anybody else for that matter) to forget something that didn’t happen. But he’ll probably just invent another slight and use it to provide extra motivation.
In review, pointing out that the Browns played terribly against Tennessee (18 penalties) and didn’t look great against an overmatched Jets team doesn’t make anybody a “hater.”
It just means they watched those games and received a passing grade on their last visit to the optometrist.
Other than Rex Ryan, whose pontifications about Mayfield being overrated were richer in irony than Bill Gates is in real life, no one suggested the “world was falling down,” to borrow a phrase from country philosopher Freddie Kitchens.
Mayfield wouldn’t be the first athlete to fabricate an insult and gain some motivation from it. He won’t be the last.
But this motivation game will become much harder should the Browns win a third time on the road Monday against the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers.
The Browns' biggest rival, the Ravens, play the Rams and Seattle Seahawks on the west coast later this season. The Browns' schedule brings a steady diet of the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger.
The Browns just might soon start getting talked about as a division favorite again, one capable of a postseason run. That’s apparently dangerous.
So help out your quarterback in his time of artificial need.
If you see him in the grocery aisle, ask him if he needs help getting something from the top shelf.
Tell him he’s the second-best quarterback under 6-foot-2 to Russell Wilson.
But only because Drew Brees is out with an injury.
You don’t have to mean any of it to motivate him. You don’t even have to sell it. He’ll take care of the rest.
- No doubt the Cleveland Indians and other contenders compiled wins over an unusually high number of bad teams this year, but they still won two more games than last year (despite losing their last five).
After losing so much talent in the offseason, and then huge pieces such as Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Jose Ramirez and more, they contended for a playoff spot right up until the end.
That’s a pretty good season, if made to look worse because lower payroll Oakland and low payroll Tampa won the wild cards.
- It probably didn’t help Indians fans watching Yandy Diaz hit more home runs in the wild-card win over Oakland than he hit in 299 at-bats with the Indians (via MLB’s Anthony Castrovince).
But who’s counting.
- Trevor Bauer will get a radio show on Sirius XM. As if there weren’t enough relationship advice shows already.
Bauer’s rules of dating, shared with Sports Illustrated last summer, included his commitment to a certain brand of non-commitment.
"As soon as I sense you're developing feelings, I'm going to cut it off, because I'm not interested in a relationship,” he said.
Hey ladies. He’s available…in a…you know…unavailable way.
Bauer will take on various topics for Sirius. He’ll talk a large dose of baseball, but also he’ll have the chance to go off-script. So we can assume he’ll talk politics, dating, media.
And I look forward to hearing his thoughts on one of them.
RELATED: Former Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer says he doesn't 'really miss a whole lot about Cleveland'
- LaVar Ball and son Lonzo are being counter sued for fraud by a former business partner.
We pause here to help you get over the shock.
You OK to go on?
- The excitement around quarterback Gardner Minshew in Jacksonville is being called “Minshew Mania.” And something tells me it won’t be long before the only reason they’re calling it that is the alliteration.
Minshew is a surprising sixth in QB rating since taking over for the injured Nick Foles.
How long can his success last?
Well, he’s led two comeback wins, one against Houston and the other last week against Denver.
So at least twice as long as Manziel Mania.
The Jags are offering the Minshew Mini-Pack, a bundle meant to pack the stadium for upcoming games against the Saints and Jets.
The Mini-Pack includes a trademark bandana and mustache and an opportunity to get on the field for a picture.
The way these things go in a league that eats its young quarterbacks, the fan who most looks the part can probably plan on starting the final game of the season.
- Browns 23, Niners 17
- Have a weekend.
