Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns went toe-to-toe with the defending champs in their house, but they came up just short.
The Browns fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 22-17 on Sunday in the AFC Divisional Round, thus ending their historic season. It was a game that looked like it may become a laugher early, with the Chiefs taking a 19-3 lead into the halftime locker room.
But, Cleveland responded.
Mayfield found top wide receiver Jarvis Landry on a touchdown early in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 19-10. Then, after Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with a concussion, running back Kareem Hunt punched in another score to trim the lead to 22-17.
The Browns would then intercept backup quarterback Chad Henne to give them the ball back with loads of time and a shot at the lead midway through the fourth quarter. But, the drive ended up stalling out.
Rather than push their luck on fourth down, head coach Kevin Stefanski elected to punt the ball away and trust his defense. That ended up being the wrong decision, as the Chiefs picked up two first downs to bleed the clock out and end the game.
Mayfield finished his second-career playoff game going 23 for 37 passing for 204 yards and one touchdown. He and his team proved they belonged on that stage with the defending Super Bowl winners, but are just not quite to that level just yet.
All in all, it is close to impossible to consider the 2020 season anything other than a success for Cleveland and Mayfield. It was a huge bounce-back campaign that almost landed them in the AFC Championship Game.
Now they turn to the offseason ahead as they prepare to try and make the necessary adjustments to take the next step in 2021.
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