Is Baker Mayfield a Bust?

[Wamu]

SEA...I saw that game....the play you're referring to was just inside 2 mins...great play by the 2nd defender to catch it off the tip. I think it was 2nd and 8 on about the 10 yd line.

Ehhh...idk if the playcall itself was bad...obviously if they score, Browns go up 27-12. The worst result that could happen, did happen with the pick, taking the TD or potential 3 off the board with it. I guess running it twice and kicking a FG would leave maybe 20-30 secs if that much assuming SEA didn't call TO.

Pass hit him in the hands...just got a bad result more than a bad playcall on that one.

For me Freddy's 2 obvious play call blunders were frustrating. Maybe jumping the gun a little bit about him as a play caller. But the #'s aren't on his side right now. espn.com has the offense ranked 19th in ppg / teamrankings.com has them 20th. That's not good. The OL is lousy. But it's not like the team doesn't have weapons. I guess the only way I sum up the season so far for myself is unfortunately typical.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Nine W's was hope before the season started. But if Freddy has a 3rd brain-fart calling plays the Browns need to find someone else to be the play caller next season.

A draw play of 4th & 9 in one game (strike one). And as the 1st half was ending last Sunday he calls a pass play instead of a run. Mayfield threw a pick on that drive & the Seahawks put points on the board before HT (strike two).

You have a young QB and he continues to call pass plays with a lead. The last possible thing you want is a turnover there. Why not try to run the ball especially since Chubb was running somewhat effectively. Nothing is going to change unless Kitchens switches up his line of thinking. Young coach but at this point it seems like they are going to lose every close game for a lot of different reasons.

 

[Shanemansj13]

For me Freddy's 2 obvious play call blunders were frustrating. Maybe jumping the gun a little bit about him as a play caller. But the #'s aren't on his side right now. espn.com has the offense ranked 19th in ppg / teamrankings.com has them 20th. That's not good. The OL is lousy. But it's not like the team doesn't have weapons. I guess the only way I sum up the season so far for myself is unfortunately typical.

Basically "underproducing with a lot of talent". He is finding a way to use his talent and offensive players in a way that hurts him. If Belichick had this offense under his belt, I can almost guarantee they would be close to a top 5 offense. You just can't call some of the plays you normally would with a young QB, I get he has a high confidence but he is still a work-in-progress. That is expected.

 

[Wamu]

You have a young QB and he continues to call pass plays with a lead. The last possible thing you want is a turnover there. Why not try to run the ball especially since Chubb was running somewhat effectively. Nothing is going to change unless Kitchens switches up his line of thinking. Young coach but at this point it seems like they are going to lose every close game for a lot of different reasons.

Totally agree with you.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

For me Freddy's 2 obvious play call blunders were frustrating. Maybe jumping the gun a little bit about him as a play caller. But the #'s aren't on his side right now. espn.com has the offense ranked 19th in ppg / teamrankings.com has them 20th. That's not good. The OL is lousy. But it's not like the team doesn't have weapons. I guess the only way I sum up the season so far for myself is unfortunately typical.

I hear ya.

OFC

It is interesting that they are 21th ranked (points scored) 19th (yds), but 13th ranked in rushing yds and it drops to 20th passing yd...the OL is doing a better job in run blocking than pass blocking?

 

[Wamu]

Basically "underproducing with a lot of talent". He is finding a way to use his talent and offensive players in a way that hurts him. If Belichick had this offense under his belt, I can almost guarantee they would be close to a top 5 offense. You just can't call some of the plays you normally would with a young QB, I get he has a high confidence but he is still a work-in-progress. That is expected.

I think Belichick's a robot.

I'm just frustrated with the Browns right now. Wish they were playing better. I'm not expecting a miracle against the Pats in 2 weeks. But if they don't start winning game the 2nd half of the season some legit questions will need to be asked.

 

[dtgold88]

I'm sure there have been recent Browns losses where you could cope much more efficiently than trying to justify a 30 point loss AT HOME because they only sucked super hard starting at the end of the 3rd quarter. Ic the Eagles had suddenly came back and lit the Vikings up to win the game by 30+ points in the 4th quarter last weekend, you wouldn't find me on here coping about how the Vikings put up a great fight for 3 quarters and just had a lot of bad luck at the end.

wont speak for all but I'd rather they lose like they did to Tennessee than a heartbreaker when it comes to "coping".

 

[Wamu]

I hear ya.

OFC

It is interesting that they are 21th ranked (points scored) 19th (yds), but 13th ranked in rushing yds and it drops to 20th passing yd...the OL is doing a better job in run blocking than pass blocking?

From what I've seen so far (televised Browns games out here) Mayfield gets himself in trouble when he holds onto the ball. Around 2 seconds no problem. But the longer he holds onto it that's where the problems start.

That's a good question about the very suspect OL. Not sure what the answer really is. But it would seem they're a better run blocking team.

 

[dtgold88]

It doesn't matter when they were shot...they're airing now....just a bad look when he's struggling, but not everyone wants anoint him a bust....yet.

The worst thing that could happen here is Baker gets caught in a whirlwind of OCs and HCs...Kitchens was an iffy hire...if they do end up making a change, they need to look for some stability at that point.

Another reason I cannot believe they passed up the perfect situation. Hire experienced guy as HC like Arians with Freddie as coach in waiting. If so worried about losing Freddie (which was absurd) this is perfect situation for everyone. They know and like each other. Arians probably not gonna coach more than 2-4 years due to either age or health. And when you switch it's seamless for the players. No need to dump all the coaches or change the system.

 

[dtgold88]

Nine W's was hope before the season started. But if Freddy has a 3rd brain-fart calling plays the Browns need to find someone else to be the play caller next season.

A draw play of 4th & 9 in one game (strike one). And as the 1st half was ending last Sunday he calls a pass play instead of a run. Mayfield threw a pick on that drive & the Seahawks put points on the board before HT (strike two).

worse than the pass call was his explanation he wanted to leave time to score 2 times. with a minute left? Oh my. Just say you screwed up and move on.

 

[dtgold88]

SEA...I saw that game....the play you're referring to was just inside 2 mins...great play by the 2nd defender to catch it off the tip. I think it was 2nd and 8 on about the 10 yd line.

Ehhh...idk if the playcall itself was bad...obviously if they score, Browns go up 27-12. The worst result that could happen, did happen with the pick, taking the TD or potential 3 off the board with it. I guess running it twice and kicking a FG would leave maybe 20-30 secs if that much assuming SEA didn't call TO.

Pass hit him in the hands...just got a bad result more than a bad playcall on that one.

Think it was 1:40 left....and still 24 secs on game clock. Run down to 1:20 and do a run, then run down to 40 seconds before next play. Can then do whatever you want as you have 3 TOs and seattle has none.

 

[dtgold88]

From what I've seen so far (televised Browns games out here) Mayfield gets himself in trouble when he holds onto the ball. Around 2 seconds no problem. But the longer he holds onto it that's where the problems start.

That's a good question about the very suspect OL. Not sure what the answer really is. But it would seem they're a better run blocking team.

In general I think you are right, but he did make some nice throws last game where he bought himself some time.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

You have a young QB and he continues to call pass plays with a lead. The last possible thing you want is a turnover there. Why not try to run the ball especially since Chubb was running somewhat effectively. Nothing is going to change unless Kitchens switches up his line of thinking. Young coach but at this point it seems like they are going to lose every close game for a lot of different reasons.

Yeah, just looking at the flip side of it...I thought is was a good opportunity to tack on to the lead...but obviously you're right on the turnover....Baker hit the right guy, (meaning he was single covered, 2nd guy got there late and made a great diving play), hit him in the hands. If it was a terrible pass or something I can see having issues with the playcall with Chubb having a good game.

 

[Shanemansj13]

wont speak for all but I'd rather they lose like they did to Tennessee than a heartbreaker when it comes to "coping".

I wouldn't choose both. Blowout or close loss where they beat themselves, along with the refs joining in. If they lose, let the other team beat them. I feel like Russell Wilson is a great QB and Seattle played a good game but the Browns made a ton of mistakes...so it does suck to lose those games where you beat yourself but that happens with a young team. A blowout, pretty much means you got dominated and you have a long way to go.

Give me the close loss anytime.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Yeah, just looking at the flip side of it...I thought is was a good opportunity to tack on to the lead...but obviously you're right on the turnover....Baker hit the right guy, (meaning he was single covered, 2nd guy got there late and made a great diving play), hit him in the hands. If it was a terrible pass or something I can see having issues with the playcall with Chubb having a good game.

Yeah shit happens. But more so than the play, not wasting the clock and the result. Post game he said, "We were trying to score, get the ball back again and score again". Like I understand you want to be aggressive but lets be honest, there wasn't a good opportunity to do that and you are playing the best QB in the NFL right now. Get any kind of points and run the clock so the other team can't score at all. They had a chance to do that. The goal is to win the game.

 

[Shanemansj13]

In general I think you are right, but he did make some nice throws last game where he bought himself some time.

I did notice he was staying in the pocket more, which is a good thing. One play he was running right again like he does a lot and he saw the defender behind him and ventured back towards the pocket. So we saw some bad things, dropped balls and some officiating blunders but we saw some progress. That's all we can hope for at this point.

 

[dtgold88]

Yeah, just looking at the flip side of it...I thought is was a good opportunity to tack on to the lead...but obviously you're right on the turnover....Baker hit the right guy, (meaning he was single covered, 2nd guy got there late and made a great diving play), hit him in the hands. If it was a terrible pass or something I can see having issues with the playcall with Chubb having a good game.

No doubt you want to tack on, but do it while making sure you don't leave them time to close their deficit.

 

[dtgold88]

I wouldn't choose both. Blowout or close loss where they beat themselves, along with the refs joining in. If they lose, let the other team beat them. I feel like Russell Wilson is a great QB and Seattle played a good game but the Browns made a ton of mistakes...so it does suck to lose those games where you beat yourself but that happens with a young team. A blowout, pretty much means you got dominated and you have a long way to go.

Give me the close loss anytime.

I think the Tennessee loss was best of both worlds. Wasn't thinking we should have won, but also didn't feel like we were dominated.

 

[dtgold88]

Yeah shit happens. But more so than the play, not wasting the clock and the result. Post game he said, "We were trying to score, get the ball back again and score again". Like I understand you want to be aggressive but lets be honest, there wasn't a good opportunity to do that and you are playing the best QB in the NFL right now. Get any kind of points and run the clock so the other team can't score at all. They had a chance to do that. The goal is to win the game.

There is zero % chance that was true, and everyone there knew it. He screwed up and he knows it. should have just owned it to stop all the repeat questions about it.

 

[dtgold88]

I did notice he was staying in the pocket more, which is a good thing. One play he was running right again like he does a lot and he saw the defender behind him and ventured back towards the pocket. So we saw some bad things, dropped balls and some officiating blunders but we saw some progress. That's all we can hope for at this point.

Hate to keep going back to last year....or saying the schedule lightens up, but there is some truth to this. Many of the games you see QBs going off are against Cinci and Atlanta, and Baker did the same albeit last season. Many are against Miami, who we have not played.

That said, he still needs to start playing better against better teams.