CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was on the receiving end of much criticism leading up to Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, and former NFL coach Rex Ryan was one of the loudest critics.
Rather than being consumed by the questions and negative criticisms, Mayfield engineered seven scoring drives and led the Browns to a 40-25 victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, a win that put Cleveland atop the AFC North Division after the first quarter of the season.
“I do not think with Baker you ever have to worry about him losing confidence, and no one in this building is going to lose confidence in Baker,” Browns center JC Tretter said in a conference call Monday.
“Baker is a hell of a player. He showed it (Sunday). I do not think we are worried about Baker’s confidence level, and no one in this building is losing confidence in him, as well. He has played extremely well for us. He is the leader of this football team and he is a great player.”
In his second road start against the Ravens, Mayfield exorcised the demons from the Week 17 game in 2018 and engineered seven scoring drives by completing 20 of his 30 attempts for 342 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Mayfield took one sack on the opening drive for a five-yard loss, but was able to avoid Baltimore’s fierce pass rush for the remainder of the game. It was the least amount of sacks allowed by the Browns in any game this season.
“Offensively, I thought Baker had a rhythm,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said in a conference call Monday. “He did an excellent job of staying in the pocket and hanging in there. He did a really nice job of getting the ball out of his hands and getting it into guys’ hands that can make plays with the ball.”
Mayfield made a statement early in the first quarter and never let up against the Ravens.
Mayfield was seven for eight with 87 yards and the touchdown to Ricky Seals-Jones on the Browns’ second drive of the game, and had to overcome a first-and-25 after a blindside block from wide receiver Damion Ratley negated a Nick Chubb run.
Following the penalty, Mayfield completed an 18-yard pass to tight end Pharaoh Brown, and then, a 19-yard swing throw to running back Dontrell Hilliard that turned a third-and-two from the Baltimore 35-yard line into a first-and-goal from the nine.
“If someone is going to doubt Baker or somebody is going to doubt Freddie, they are going to stand up and say, ‘F you. You guys do not know the work that we put in. You do not know what we got through. You do not know how we play football,’” linebacker Joe Schobert said.
“That is just kind of the whole vibe with the team. The whole media seemed to count us out after last week’s loss. We started the season 1-2. Freddie’s main message is that you can’t read any of the things.
“‘Everybody outside of this building, they do not know what we go through, and they do not matter. It is about the guys in the building, the bond between positions, between units and the whole team and all that. That is all that matters. If we can rock with that and roll with that and play how we should, we will be alright.’”