In overtime on Sunday for the third time in five games, the Browns lost possession of the ball after a failed fourth-down conversion also failed to result in a penalty on Baltimore for pass interference. After the game, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield told PFT that he and his teammates didn’t expect to get another chance to win the game.
When asked what he told his teammates before what became the game-winning drive, Mayfield said that they were simply happy to be getting another chance, after the frustration that emerged when the prior drive fizzled out. And Mayfield had confidence that the offense had more than enough talent to get the job done.
And confidence continues to be the key word with Mayfield. He exudes it. He oozes it. And it’s not cockiness. It’s a very simply, matter-of-fact belief in his abilities and the abilities of his teammates.
They’d like the to be able to demonstrate those abilities within the 60 minutes of regulation. Though Mayfield isn’t concerned about the extra work wearing the team down, he’s hopeful that they’ll start winning these games without having to play beyond the fourth quarter.
Something he thinks he can do in order to help that happen is get the ball out faster, and also keeping working on getting on the same page with his receivers. That’s the one thing he mentioned when asked where he hopes to improve.
One area in which he doesn’t need to improve relates to outside noise. He knows that he’ll be praised when the team thrives and criticizes when it doesn’t. And he says he simply doesn’t listen to any of it, focusing instead on one game at a time.
That’s what he’ll do today. Enjoy the win, and focus on next week. And Browns fans can focus on adding wins after picking up twice as many as they did in two seasons, in only five weeks.