CLEVELAND — For the first time since the Cleveland Browns' win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11 of the 2019 season, Baker Mayfield didn't throw an interception on Sunday.
But despite breaking what had been an eight-game interception streak, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft insisted he still didn't play to his full potential in the Browns' 34-20 win over the Washington Football Team.
"I could have played way better," Mayfield said after the game. "I could have gotten the ball out and saved a couple of those sacks. The protection was great. I could have re-IDed the play where the intentional grounding happened and the first play coming out where I got sacked. Some things that I can be a lot better on."
A quick examination of Mayfield's box score shows a steady, albeit unspectacular, performance.
For a second straight week -- both Cleveland wins -- Mayfield efficiently completed 16 of his 23 pass attempts, this time doing so for 156 yards and two touchdowns. With the Browns defense forcing five turnovers and giving him a short field to work with four times, there wasn't much need for Mayfield to make many spectacular plays, although he did come through on a critical 3rd-and-12 conversion to Odell Beckham Jr. on Cleveland's go-ahead drive, which he capped with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Harrison Bryant.
As Mayfield noted, there were some hiccups along the way, including two sacks, an intentional grounding call and a near-interception in the second quarter that was broken up by Beckham. Had Beckham not broken knocked the pass away from Washington safety Troy Apke, Mayfield's interception streak would have extended to a ninth game.
"It was a great job by Odell knocking the ball down," Mayfield said. "I should have put that ball more outside and let him run under it, but we are going to take our chances on those 50-50 balls with our guys. He did an unbelievable job knocking that ball down."
Nevertheless, Mayfield did enough to help his team earn its second win in as many weeks, with 2-1 Cleveland now laying claim to a winning record for the first time in his NFL career. And while he may still possess the potential to play even better, at the end of the day, that's what matters most.
“Doing whatever it takes to win the game," Mayfield said. "Obviously, taking care of the ball, percentages show a way better chance to win the game but especially when our defense is playing like that.
"We have a great punter. Protecting that ball, taking check downs, playing the field position game and playing that battle and just trusting this team and this offense that we are going to chip away eventually, and trusting our defense and special teams that we are going to give them great field position to play against and play complementary football."