CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns fans have been waiting for a breakout performance from the offense since the start of the 2019 regular season, and they finally got that showing in Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
The Browns played one of their more complete offensive games of the season, as they had a 300-yard passer, one 100-yard receiver and a 100-yard running back in the 41-24 win over the Dolphins.
The Browns’ four most prolific scorers, wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry and running backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, each reached the end zone in the victory.
“We are making strides in the direction that we need to,” Mayfield said. “I would not say we are exactly right where we need to be, but we are showing flashes of that consistency that I talked about we need to have. It is heading in the right direction, so we need to keep building on it.”
Here is a breakdown of Mayfield’s performance against the Dolphins.
What Mayfield did
Mayfield completed 24 of his 34 attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns against one interception, his first turnover in the last four games. Mayfield’s 70.6 completion percentage and 118.1 quarterback rating were single-game highs this season for the second-year quarterback.
Mayfield added five yards on two carries and recovered a fumbled snap.
Analysis
Finally, the Browns had a game where both Landry and Beckham Jr. were able to make plays in space and find the end zone.
Distributing the ball proved not to be a problem for Mayfield, as he took advantage of a banged up Dolphins secondary. Landry turned his 10 catches into 148 yards and two touchdowns, and his long-time friend, Beckham Jr., added 84 yards and one score on six receptions.
The connection with Landry is starting to improve, as the receiver has caught touchdown passes in four straight games.
“They were making plays all day,” Mayfield said. “They are there when they need to be there making the plays we are counting on them to make, and they are doing it consistently for us.”
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What’s next?
The Browns get right back into AFC North Division play when they travel to Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for a return match with the Steelers after beating their bitter rival, 21-7, in a “Thursday Night Football” game marred by a brawl.
The game against the Steelers will be one of the Browns’ four AFC North Division matchups over the last five weeks of the 2019 regular season. The Browns enter the rivalry rematch on a three-game winning streak, which evened their home record to 3-3 on the season after an 0-3 start at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“It feels good to know that we have that comfort of coming back home, having that advantage of people need to fear coming to Cleveland,” Mayfield said. “Kind of like I said last year, just getting into that groove, knowing that you are comfortable at home. You have the fans to rely on. You can feel that energy and build the momentum.”
What are they saying?
“I thought Baker knew exactly what he was doing all day,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said. “He was efficient. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. I thought we handled the no-huddle situation very good and got down there, and then, stalled out a little bit. No-huddle went well. He was good. He was really good.”
Mayfield added, “Making those plays in the red zone…When we got our chances, we capitalized. We still did not play nearly good enough, but we still scored 40 points.”