Cleveland Browns

For Baker Mayfield's Cleveland Browns, is a Super Bowl realistic?

Published Oct. 13, 2021 7:02 p.m. ET

The Cleveland Browns have Super Bowl aspirations.

It's a unit that's shouldered lofty expectations since acquiring Odell Beckham Jr. in 2019, but up to this point has fallen short of projections.

Cleveland has failed to make a playoff appearance in two of Baker Mayfield's first three seasons while sputtering to a 26-24 record.

That's just two games over the .500 mark – a far cry from what the franchise envisioned when it christened Mayfield with the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.

And one thing is clear, the team has worked to put the pieces around Mayfield for success.

The Browns' defense is currently ranked fourth in total yards allowed per game (298.8). The unit's even better against the run, surrendering only 75.6 yards per game, the second-best mark in the league.

The pass-rush is fierce, too – Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney ransacked Chicago's backfield for nine sacks – and the group's secondary is 11th in passing yards allowed per game.

On the other side of the ball, Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry headline a strong receiving corp – though Landry has not played since Week 2 due to a knee injury – while Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt comprise a top-flight rushing attack that gains a league-leading 187.6 yards per game.

Oh, and they're led by the 2020 Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski.

Then there's their quarterback, Mayfield. He has good outings, and he has bad ones, but his lack of consistency has some doubting whether the Browns are legitimate title contenders.

For Mayfield, his play in the coming weeks carries an extra bit of weight: He's playing for a new contract as well. Cleveland exercised the fifth-year option on his rookie deal that will keep him in town through 2022, but the following season he'll become an unrestricted free agent.

And Colin Cowherd doesn't think he's done enough to warrant a substantial deal.

"Baker Mayfield is a .500 quarterback," Cowherd said on "The Herd." "Nobody in the history of the league has had more commercials and is a .500 quarterback in a small market. … He's got one playoff win."

"Among his AFC, age-similar peers, he's not close to Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes II, Josh Allen in talent," Cowherd continued. "In my opinion, he's not as good as Joe Burrow, and he's not close to Trevor Lawrence. He's seventh-best. You're stuck with him. The GM who inherited him is going to have to make a decision."

Cowherd highlighted Mayfield's ineffectiveness in crunch time as a major reason for his take, citing his late-game blunders against both the Chiefs and Chargers.

"He has to throw in his two last drives against K.C., and it's a three-and-out and a pick. You watch him in his last two drives in Los Angeles, he looks like he checked down on a third-and-10, and then his final drive was egregiously bad."

Colin Cowherd: The Cleveland media is wrong on Baker Mayfield again I THE HERD

Colin Cowherd discusses the narrative surrounding Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns.

The numbers support Cowherd's claims.

Per ESPN's Rob Ninkovich, the Browns are 6-for-29 on third-down passes from six or more yards out, which is tied for 30th league-wide.

Mayfield is also at a career-low pace when it comes to finding the end zone, with just four TDs through Week 5 (T-28th).

The Browns have built a potential winning juggernaut that's excellent in multiple facets, but in the modern NFL, they'll only go as far as their quarterback can take them.

In terms of both team success and Mayfield's individual bank account, the ball is in his court.

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