Baker Mayfield had himself a modest afternoon Sunday in Baltimore, albeit with a big asterisk.
A line of 18-for-29, 167 yards and a TD to go with an interception isn’t great, but it’s not a bad day at the office against a strong defense like Mayfield faced in the Ravens game. The QB Rating of 74.9 there is good enough to avoid any histrionic reactions. It needs to be a lot better, but Baltimore will do that to a quarterback in his first game in a new offensive system.
The cold reality is Mayfield wound up with the following stat line, thanks to the asterisk that is Odell Beckham Jr.:
21-of-39, 189 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, QB Rating 65.0
Mayfield looked Beckham’s way 10 times. The high-profile duo connected just three times for 22 yards.
Beckham dropped two of those throws, one of them a key gaffe early while the outcome was still in question. Pro Football Focus noted of the accuracy and chemistry issues between the two,
The connection between Mayfield and Beckham looked just as it was in 2019 — nonexistent. Beckham saw 10 targets, and just five of those were catchable. And of those five, he caught only three.
That means five of Mayfield’s throws to Beckham were deemed uncatchable, which passes the eye test from the initial broadcast. Beckham struggled to get open against the Ravens, but Mayfield continued to force the ball No. 13’s way.
It should get better with more work together. Then again, everyone thought that heading into the offseason too. Yet here it is still looking like two movie stars with zero chemistry together fumbling through a painfully awkward love scene.
As the director of this movie, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski needs to rewrite the script for Mayfield and Beckham. If it doesn’t happen soon, the buddy comedy will further dissolve into a horror movie that nobody wants to see.