The Cleveland Browns have finished their winning streak of 19 consecutive matches against the New York Jets. First-Round-Pick Baker Mayfield took over for Tyrod Taylor at the end of the first half and showed a strong performance. On the other side, Sam Darnold had a mixed evening.
Mayfield (17/23, 201 YDS) could hardly have made a better NFL debut. The 23-year-old came into play in the first half with 2’25” remaining time and took on the role of Signal Caller in a Browns opener that seemed desolate once again and had not yet scored a single point. Mayfield led Cleveland for the first time in Field Goal range, the newly signed kicker Greg Joseph (2/2 FG) showed no nerves from 45 yards away.
Tyrod Taylor (4/14, 19 YDS, 4 ATT, 22 YDS)), who had to leave the field due to a concussion, had to fight again with big problems during the complete first half. Taylor only managed 4 of his 14 attempts to pass and had to swallow three sacks for 22 yards of space loss. The first five drives of the hosts all ended in punts, which were accompanied in the second quarter by boo-cries of the fans
Mayfield, on the other hand, led Cleveland to two halftime touchdown drives after a fumble by jet receiver Robbie Anderson (2 REC, 22 YDS), both completed by a goal line carry by Carlos Hyde (23 CAR, 98 YDS, 2 TD).
Mayfield caught the two-point conversion in the third quarter with a variant of the “Philly Special” even in the end zone. On the 75-yard drive, which gave the Browns a 2’04 lead, Mayfield made 6 of his 8 passes for 60 yards, both Incompletions were drops from his receivers.
Sam Darnold (15/31, 169 YDS, 2 INT) could meanwhile shine significantly less than his counterpart on the Browns’ side. Head coach Todd Bowles obviously tried to protect his young quarterback as best he could out of respect for the Browns’ aggressive lightning packages and therefore designed an extremely conservative game plan.
Darnold kept throwing screen passes, especially at Quincy Enunwa (4 REC, 57 YDS), leaving the pocket with designed rollouts. Isaiah Crowell (16 CAR, 34 YDS, 2 TD) could finish two drives with a touchdown run in halftime one, but in the course of the game the Browns-Defense adjusted to this underneath open and allowed only three points in the second run.
After the Browns took the lead late in the last quarter, Darnold afforded a nasty interception right into the arms of linebacker Joe Schobert on the two-minute drive that followed. The last jet drive ended with a desperate throw from Darnold, which Terrance Mitchell intercepted and then stormed the entire field and was celebrated by the Dawg Pound.
“The season has four quarters, we have won the third game of the first quarter. Now we have to prepare for Oakland,” Mayfield was reticent despite the historic victory after the match. Whether the rookie would get his first start against the Raiders was not clear immediately after the game. But: Even if Taylor could play against the Raiders after a concussion, he could hardly be justified as a starter ahead of Mayfield after this game.