CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – When Baker Mayfield jogged to the locker room at halftime the Tennessee Titans were still trying to figure out what just hit them.
Mayfield was simply sensational in the first 30 minutes on his way to his best performance of the season completing a total of 25 passes for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns the 41-35 win to push the Browns to 9-3 on the season.
“Winning is fun. Winning covers up a lot of things,” Mayfield said. “Having everybody on the same page and moving towards the same goal is the biggest thing.
“When you get a group that is hungry, sees the same things and works for the same things, that is when it really gets special. We need to continue to get better because the job is not finished.”
Mayfield found four different Browns for touchdowns in the first half to become the first Brown in the Super Bowl era and first since Hall of Famer Otto Graham did it against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 2 1951 to accomplish the feat.
Ironically, Sunday was Graham’s birthday.
With everyone expecting a showdown between Nick Chubb, Kareem hunt and Tennessee’s Derrick henry, head coach Kevin Stefanski turned Mayfield loose.
“We are going do whatever it takes to win,” Stefanski said. “We are looking for the right play at the right time, and then to the players’ credit, they are executing at a high level.”
At halftime, Mayfield was 20 of 25 for 290 yards with the four scores and a rating of 154.6.
“I know we did not finish the way we wanted to by any means, but in the first half, that was the most complete game or complete half that we have played,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield is the only quarterback this season to throw 4 TDs in a half – and he’s done it twice.
After a week of players talking about the team having yet to play their best football, Mayfield insisted Sunday still wasn’t it.
“No, I still think that is ahead of us,” Mayfield said. “The first half was better than some, but we could have had touchdowns instead of field goals. I just think there are always plays you look back on. We won the game. We need to be proud of that, but we have to continue to improve because some of these plays that we can overcome may be the ones that cost us later down the road so we have to be able to correct those and make those big plays.”
Slippery Slope – As exhilarating as it was to watch the Browns steamroll to a 31-point lead, they almost blew it in the second half.
The Titans outscored the Browns 28-3 in the final 30 minutes but thankfully ran out of time.
“That game took all of 60 minutes,” Stefanski said. “We made it interesting there at the end, which we should not do.
Fat Guy Score – Hall of Famer John Madden would’ve been proud Sunday.
Browns offensive tackle Kendall Lamm caught a 1-yard touchdown from Mayfield off play action to Chubb that gave the Browns a 17-0 lead in the second quarter.
“That was installed this week, believe it or not,” Stefanski said. “Kendall did a great job. The guys again understood the finer points of that. Kendall, I would like to see him high point it next time go up and get it.”
Lamm became the first Browns offensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass since Shaun O’Hara on Sept. 23, 2001 against Detroit.
Making Amends – Rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones went from goat to hero quickly Sunday.
Peoples-Jones dropped a potential touchdown off a slant inside the 5 on the Browns’ opening series that ended in a field goal but made up for it quickly.
“Guys are going to drop the ball. Guys are going to miss throws,” Stefanski said. “You are going to miss a block. I am looking for the perfect game. I am going to make that call as I did today. You have to really just move on from those. He moved on, we moved on and knew he was going to make a great play there.”
Mayfield went right back to him for a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown and a 10-0 advantage that saw him double move Tennessee cornerback Breon Borders right out of his shoes.
“You think about that double move there, that was repped with KhaDarel (Hodge) during the week,” Stefanski said. “For him to know what to do, know how to do it and execute it at a high level, it really speaks to how he prepares.”
Red Carpet – Rashard Higgins got to roll out the red carpet with a 17-yard reception that put the Browns up 31-7 in the second quarter.
He caught 6 passes for 95 yards in the win as he reached 10 career touchdowns and 100 career receptions.
Welcome Back – Defensive end Myles Garrett returned from his bout with COVID-19 to pick up another sack, which came on third down in the fourth quarter, Sunday giving him 10 ½ for the season.
“It felt like Aggie-on-Aggie violence,” Garrett joked. “No, I loved it. I was glad because I was like, ‘Man, I can’t let him come out unscathed. I kind of have to be able to take something from him.’ It was nice knowing that I was so close and got a couple of hits.
“I was free a couple of times and if was given another half second, I could have got the ball away from him. I just tried to add on to that and keep on having him thinking about me instead of guys down field.”
Garrett admitted it was an exhausting afternoon.
“The first quarter, I felt pretty good. After that, I felt pretty tired,” Garrett said. “I just had to push through it, try to make plays and be there when my team needs me.”
Garrett is now tied for third on the team’s all-time sack list and he is the first player in franchise history to record at least 10 sacks in three seasons.
His 41 career sacks are the second-most sacks by a No. 1 overall pick in his first four years, behind only Bruce Smith (44.5).
Quote to Live By – “Whenever I am about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, then I don’t do that.” – Baker Mayfield on what has changed about him.
Injury Report – Linebacker Mack Wilson left Sunday’s game and was evaluated for a concussion.