CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – On a day the Browns needed Baker Mayfield to be his best, he felt his worst and played like it too.
Mayfield tried playing through a rib injury suffered in the fourth quarter of last week’s win over Indianapolis and the Steelers spent the afternoon reminding him of it as Mike Tomlin turned his defense loose in the 38-7 rout.
Mayfield, who said after the game he was unaffected by the injury, was pulled late in the third quarter with the Steelers in front 31-7.
“I didn’t want to see him get hit one more time,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said.
“He’s a very, very tough player and I know he wants to fight but it’s a long season and we’ve got a game next week. I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to put him back out there.”
Mayfield finished the afternoon 10 of 18 for 119 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked four times and hit countless other times, but the Browns’ first-year head coach made it clear there is no QB controversy.
“Baker will start as long as he is healthy, and I think he will be,” Stefanski said.
Despite the injury and lack of success against the stout Steelers defense, Mayfield wanted to finish the game.
“Of course I did,” Mayfield said. “That’s the nature of being a competitor. It’s just who I am.”
In the end, Stefanski tried to save Mayfield from himself.
“In his words, got a big picture mindset,” Mayfield said. “Just gotta roll with the punches.”
Mayfield’s afternoon started bad and snowballed quickly.
After Pittsburgh kicked a field goal, Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick stepped in front of a Mayfield throw on third-and-3 from their own 28 and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown and quick 10-0 lead. The throw was intended for rookie tight end Harrison Bryant but ended in Mayfield’s fourth career pick-6 to end Cleveland’s opening drive.
Down 10 early in the second quarter, Stefanski opted to go for it on fouth-and-4 at the Steelers 37 but rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills false started and the Browns were forced to punt instead.
It was that type of afternoon.
Cornerback Terrance Mitchell was helpless defending a 36-yard throw from Ben Roethlisberger to Chase Claypool which set up James Conner’s three-yard touchdown run on the next play for a 17-0 lead.
Mayfield’s second interception came when he heaved a prayer on third down after avoiding TJ Watt and the Steelers picked it off at midfield. Roethlisberger turned it into a 28-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open James Washington for a 24-0 lead.
Mayfield was 2-of-7 for 5 yards with 2 interceptions and a sack on third down Sunday.
“Obviously, not good enough,” Mayfield said. “I’ve gotta take care of the ball.”
On the bright side, defensive end Myles Garrett registered a sack in his fifth straight game, which came before the half, giving him 7.0 this season. Garrett is the only player to have 7 or more sacks in the first 6 games of a season in franchise history, and he’s done it in each of the last 2 years.
“They just outplayed us on defense and offense,” Garrett said. “They just had our number today.”
Desperation took over in the third quarter.
After winning a challenge of a completed pass to Jarvis Landry on third down, it was ruled a foot short of the first down. Stefanski went for it at his own 29. Running back Kareem Hunt, who finished with 40 yards on 13 carries, was dropped for a loss of 1.
Following the turnover on downs that ended Mayfield’s day, the Steelers ran it 8 times for 28 yards with the final 3 on the drive coming courtesy of Claypool, who got the ball inside the pylon for a 31-7 lead.
Pittsburgh added another touchdown, a 1-yard run from Benny Snell to ice the game.
Backup quarterback Case Keenum completed 5-of-10 passes for 46 yards in mop up duty.
