Kevin Stefanski’s debut as the head coach of the Browns did little to suggest that it was the dawn of a bright new era for football in Cleveland.
The Ravens rolled over the Browns for a 38-6 win that saw Cleveland struggle in all three phases of the game. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was included in those struggles as he went 21-of-39 for 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception and he said after the game that he thinks getting knocked around like that could wind up helping the Browns in the future.
“Sometimes a wakeup call is pretty good for everybody -- a nice punch in the mouth, and that is how we should take it,” Mayfield said, via Cleveland.com. “We should not dwell on it, realize that we just got beat today, they played better than us, look at it, get better, move on and go play the Bengals. That is all we can do.”
The Browns lost to the Titans 43-13 to open the 2019 season and then bounced back to beat the Jets in Week Two. That success didn’t sustain itself, however, and the team was 2-6 halfway through the season, so sometimes getting punched in the mouth is just a precursor to more punches in the mouth.