Cleveland Browns Quarterback Baker Mayfield – (Image Credit: Associated Press)
Browns WIN! Browns WIN! The most beautiful words that Jim Donovan, Cleveland Browns radio play-by-play analyst, has uttered in a long, long time. Words that a rabid fan base has been longing to hear since December 24, 2016; Six hundred and thirty-five days to be exact. We know it’s the third game of the season and we know that it’s only one game…but ohhhhh how sweet it was!
However, it didn’t start out that way. Watching Thursday night’s game was like eating Sour Patch Kids, it started out really sour and then turned ever so sweet. Browns offense came out flat; ok let’s just be honest, the offense was horrible. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor had no time to do anything. It looked like Taylor was on the playground at school and some bullies were trying to take his lunch money.
Even on three-step drops, the Jets defense was all over him. Carlos Hyde had a couple of good runs but for the most part, the offense was doing absolutely nothing. Also, the defense, that was virtually dominant in the first two games, started to spring some leaks. After Nick Chubb completely whiffed on a block, resulting in a blocked punt, the Jets offense started moving the ball. Isiah Crowell and Bilal Powell started finding holes to run through. Holes that just weren’t there in the previous two games. Yep you heard me correctly, Isiah “The Crow” Crowell. He did his best to make the Browns regret not re-signing him this past off-season, to the tune of two touchdowns and one obscene touchdown celebration, in which he used the football to wipe his rear end and then threw it into the stands. That act, along with the fact that the offense was doing absolutely nothing, infuriated the Cleveland fans!!!
Not Again, Not Another Browns Heartbreak
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, this year’s third overall draft pick and whom many analysts said Cleveland should’ve taken with the number one overall pick, wasn’t doing much better than Taylor. However, he did have the Jets leading 14 – 0 late in the second quarter.Taylor and the stagnate Browns offense took the field again and at this point, I felt my semi-pro football team could perform better than what the Cleveland fans were witnessing. But the angry fans began to boo the Browns offense even louder after they went nowhere on first and second down. At this point I’m ready to blow a gasket, along with everyone in orange and brown!!!
All this talk about how different this team is this year. We played the Steelers to a tie; we barely lose to the Saints because of missed extra-points and field goals; and now we are on the verge of getting blown out by the Jets? I don’t know about everyone else, but this looks like the same ole Browns at this point.
Please don’t tell me I have to suffer through another horrible season, because I don’t know if I can take it. Third down, Taylor gets the snap, he looks down field, sees no one open, starts to roll to his left where he gets wrapped up and slammed to the turf. “You got to be kidding me!” I scream, as the boos from the fans are now deafening! The Browns now must punt and the way our defense has looked on the last couple of drives, we are in jeopardy of going into halftime down by fourteen points possibly more. Ok…the Browns defense holds and forces the Jets to punt. We’ll get one more chance to score some points before the half, but Taylor must get it together.
It’s Showtime
Suddenly, First Energy Stadium starts trembling and the fans erupted so loudly with cheers that they could be heard in nearby Public Square in downtown Cleveland. This is as loud as I heard the fans since the opening kickoff. What’s going on? Why are the fans going crazy? Wait a minute…Taylor isn’t coming on to the field. Instead it’s the number one overall pick in the draft, Baker Mayfield!!! You could feel the energy level skyrocket; not only in the stands, but you could also see it with the players when Baker took the field. It turned out that Taylor, on the last hit when he was slammed to the ground, suffered a concussion. It was Baker’s show for the rest of the game.
The Beginning Of The Baker Mayfield Era
This is what the fans in Cleveland have been waiting for…the debut of Baker Mayfield, and he did not disappoint, completing 3 of 4 passes on his initial drive. The Browns finished that drive with a field goal, cutting the Jets lead to 11 points going into half time. OMG…Cleveland, we have life!!!
(Image Credit – Getty)
The second half was even more hype than the last two minutes of the first half and Baker Mayfield had Browns fans in a frenzy. He even had the defense so fired up, they only allowed the Jets to score three points the remainder of the game. Baker however, led the Browns offense to a field goal, two touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion.More importantly, Baker Mayfield led the Browns to their first win in six hundred and thirty-five days! Yep you heard me correctly…The Browns Won 21-17!!!
I can’t even begin to describe the emotions of the Cleveland Browns fans; the pure elation! We have waited so long for this, for just one win. It’s sad but true. Some say that it felt like a Super Bowl win. Of course, Browns fans have no idea what that feels like but hopefully with Baker, that will soon change. What they do have right now however, is hope. The hope that Baker Mayfield can take the Browns where only Bernie Kosar has been able to take them and even further…to that ever so elusive Super Bowl! But for now, I’m sure the fans would be very happy with just two wins in a row.
