Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium, presumably, the future of the league will be on display when Kansas City’s Pat Mahomes and Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield meet for the first time – in the NFL.
If their pro careers go as well as their college ones did, and if the last time they met in college is any indication of what to expect between them in the future, then we are all in for a treat and maybe Mayfield-Mahomes will someday become the new Peyton Manning-Brady rivalry.
“Well, I would absolutely not say that it’s going to be Brady-Manning right now,” Mayfield said this week. “But that’s humbling to be in that conversation. We’ll see. If he keeps playing that way, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be on his side of things and now I’ve just got to pick up my side and play better.”
The last time Mayfield and Mahomes met on a football field, they slugged it out in spectacular fashion with Mayfield and Oklahoma prevailing over Mahomes and Texas Tech, 66-59 on Oct. 22, 2016.
“That it was a basketball score,” Mayfield said. “I know looking back on it he had I think 800-plus total yards, and they were 20-of-25 on third down. So I think if we can keep him from completing 20-of-25 third downs, then we'll have a better chance of winning.”
That game, which resembled a video game, saw both teams amass 854 yards of total offense and featured 17 touchdowns and 4 field goals. Mahomes set an FBS record by combining for 819 yards all by himself. He threw for 734 yards and 5 touchdowns while Mayfield aired it out for yards and 7 touchdowns.
“That was my welcome back to Lubbock moment, and weird things happen in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday nights,” Mayfield said. “It's pretty funny. Oklahoma goes back to Lubbock this weekend and then I'm playing Pat on Sunday.”
Mahomes is off to a blistering start for the 7-1 Chiefs.
The former Texas Tech star leads the NFL in passing with 2,526 yards and 26 touchdowns, which is very bad news for Cleveland’s 26th ranked pass defense that allows an average of 275.6 yards through the air per game this season.
The 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft doesn’t hold it against the Browns for passing on him with the top pick, which they used on Myles Garrett.
“When I entered the draft, I was supposed to be a third-round pick,” Mahomes said. “I was just about getting better every single day and trying to prove to everyone that I was able to play in this league. Whoever I went to, I was thankful for. There is no hatred for me toward any team that did not pick me.”
Mayfield, taken by the Browns No. 1 overall this year, isn’t realizing the same success Mahomes is and 8 games into his rookie year, his head coach and offensive coordinator has already been fired.
“I know how resilient he is, and I know that this will do nothing but make him better,” Mahomes said. “He is going to keep going out there every single day and compete. That is one thing you will always get out of him is a competitor and someone that is going to go out there and try to win football games.”
The 2017 Heisman Trophy winner is officially 1-4 since taking over as the starter for the Browns while competing 58.3 percent of his passes for 1,471 yards with 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.
Mahomes sees better days ahead for Mayfield.
“Baker is an awesome dude. He is a great leader, and he has a ton of passion. His talent is through the roof,” Mahomes said. “He is going to keep getting better every single week. He has already had a lot of success. The sky is the limit for him.”