The Cleveland Browns were no match for the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, as they fell to 4-2 on the season after the 38-7 beat down.
After six games, we can make this conclusion about the Browns. They aren’t in the same class as the Steelers and Ravens, both of whom put a wallop on the brown and orange, over 30 point defeats.
That isn’t meant to be catastrophic news. Both of these things can be true. Cleveland is a much improved football team. They won four straight after an opening loss to Baltimore, and it would not be a surprise to see both Dallas (weak division) and Indianapolis in the post-season.
However, the three best teams in the AFC might just be the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens, and the Steelers, although Tennessee might have something to say about that.
As usual when the Browns lose, the questions surrounding quarterback Baker Mayfield start. Our guess is if you didn’t want then GM John Dorsey to take the former Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, you feel he isn’t the guy long term at QB, so your ire is focused on Mayfield.
If you watched that game on Sunday and determined the reason Cleveland lost by 31 points is Baker Mayfield, then we question your football acumen.
Look, we aren’t saying Mayfield played a good game. His first quarter pick six on the first drive of the game was a terrible throw, and good QBs can’t and don’t make that pass. But the Browns were dominated on both lines of scrimmage.
The offensive line, which has been so good in the four game win streak, was simply out muscled by Pittsburgh’s front seven. And you can blame Wyatt Teller being out, but rookie Jedrick Wills, Joel Bitonio and J.C. Tretter struggled too.
What is the alternative to Mayfield? It certainly isn’t veteran Case Keenum, who replaced the starter in the third quarter and completed 5 of 9 throws for 46 yards, 24 of them coming on his first pass, a busted coverage throw to Jarvis Landry.
We know what Keenum is, he’s a serviceable starter, but mostly a backup QB. He’s not going to become a top 10 signal caller at this stage of his career.
And the Browns have improved enough so they will not be picking in the top five of the draft, barring injuries. Add to this we have seen the quarterbacks coming out of college in the past few years, and most of them don’t look as good in the professional game.
We don’t want to make excuses for any professional athlete, but Mayfield has played 36 games in the NFL and has had four head coaches, and four offensive coordinators. Before we make any judgment on him, we want to see how he grows with Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt, who most certainly will be back in Berea in 2021.
That’s only fair.
By the way, Mayfield has a 16-19 record in his 35 starts. Before he came to the team, they won just four of their previous 48 games. Now, Mayfield isn’t the sole reason for this, but it does tell you the kind of ditch the Browns are digging their way out of.
We will also learn a lot about Stefanski and his staff in the coming weeks. The Browns have games against the Ravens and Steelers at home and it will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments his staff will make in the second go round.
Based on what we’ve seen, Cleveland will be much better prepared in the second meeting with each of these teams. A good test will come this week in Cincinnati, when the Browns and Bengals match up for a second time.
What have we learned thus far? The Browns are much better, but they aren’t at the Super Bowl contender level. Sometimes teams have to take steps. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the steps are upward.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 