CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns took a monumental step towards realizing their playoff destiny in 2020 with a 20-6 victory over the Giants in New Jersey.
It was also their coming out party as Cleveland dominated on both sides of the football. The Browns scored touchdowns in each of their three trips to the red zone while allowing New York just three points in their three trips inside the 20.
With playoff champagne officially on ice, it's time to hand out game balls for a record 10th time this season.
Baker Mayfield – To quote the great Dan Patrick, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick is simply “en fuego.” Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns to eight different receivers Sunday night as he sliced up the Giants defense with surgical precision. It was the seventh game this season that Mayfield registered passer rating above 100.0. His 99.4 passer rating in 2020 is the third highest by a Brown (min. 100 attempts) in single-season history, behind Otto Graham in 1953 (99.7) and Milt Plum in 1960 (110.4). With 74 career touchdowns, Mayfield trails only Peyton Manning (85) and Andrew Luck (86) in most passing touchdowns by a No. 1overall pick in his first three years.
Nick Harris and the offensive line – The rookie from Washington did a tremendous job jumping in for the injured Chris Hubbard and the offensive line didn’t miss a beat as they controlled the line of scrimmage all night. Mayfield was sacked just once Sunday night and the unit has cut his sacks in half – 18 this year to date compared to 40 last year.
Jarvis Landry – Landry led the team with seven catches Sunday night, including his third touchdown of the season. Landry continues to lead the team in receptions, and he’s gotten hot of late catching TDs in three of the last four games.
Rashard Higgins – Speaking of a hot hand, Higgins caught four passes for a team-high 76 yards as he has stepped into the No. 2 receiver role behind Landry in the absence of Beckham.
Nick Chubb – Chubb scored his 10th touchdown of the season to deliver the knockout punch early in the fourth quarter Sunday. Chubb’s 32nd game with at least 50 rushing yards surpassed Jim Brown for the most by a Brown in his first three years.
Karl Joseph – The safety led the Browns with 10 tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a pair of pass breakups. He also recovered the Giants' onside kick to seal the victory.
Sheldrick Redwine – Redwine teamed up with Sheldon Richardson to deliver a big hit on fourth down to prevent the Giants from scoring on their third possession inside the red zone. He finished with eight tackles, second most behind joseph on the night.
Myles Garrett, Larry Ogunjobi and the defensive line – Ogunjobi and Garrett teamed up in the final minute to bag Colt McCoy and the defensive front kept New York’s offense in check all night. The Giants were held to just 74 yards rushing. Cleveland’s front delivered a sack, four QB hits and two tackles for loss