Chris Gunter : Cleveland.com

JACKSONVILLE, FL – 24 hours after going 19/29 for 258 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and posting a QB rating of 116.7 in a 27-25 road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, many in the Dawg Pound are less than pleased with the performance of Cleveland Browns quarterback, Baker Mayfield.

Mayfield, the oft-maligned former top overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma, helped lead the Browns to their best record in over 30 years at 8-3, and yet Browns fans are seemingly stuck on stupid in criticizing some throws in the red zone—which including missing a wide open Rashard Higgins.

Again, I get it my fellow Dawgs, but as I mused on my personal Facebook shortly after the game, that I just KNEW that the armchair GM’s and “experts” would nit-pick Mayfield’s performance. Sherlock Holmes, you got some comp, brother!

So, the Cleveland Browns are 8-3 and currently No.5 in the AFC playoff picture. Baker played well in passing for 258…

Posted by Robert D. Cobb on Sunday, November 29, 2020

It’s sad that these overweight 300-pound-plus Al Bundy-wannabe, glory-chasing, fake Internet tough guys that have never gone thru a single two-a-day drill, ran a 40 or can even break down an arrow route, a seven, stick or an option route except for if they’re playing Madden.

Again, I get it. But this is Trumpian-level petty that would make the outgoing Traitor-In-Chief proud.

Is it because he planted the flag down at the Horseshoe? Is it because he’s not an Ohio boy like Brady Quinn and Charlie Frye once were? Because I’ve been a Browns fans since I was born back in 1976, and Quinn and Frye couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and yet homers gave them lifelong passes because they were “one of us” and “from Ohio”, etc.

There’s homerism and there’s straight up ignorance, and if you’d can’t understand the latter, then you’re guilty of being the current.

Some love to rip on Mayfield for his height, and yet Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is 5’9—on a good day—and division rival in Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is 6’1 and is the reigning NFL MVP and AP Player Of The Year.

So which is it? What’s your excuse, so-called Browns “fan”? What’s the REAL issue for people like you trying to come down on arguably the BEST QB—the one that “fans” like you have been whining about since ’99? Do you really want to go back to the inglorious parade of QB’s and just discard Mayfield just because you don’t like him?

I get it, I get it! His “win” came against a 1-10 team and that Mayfield is 7-0 vs teams below .500 with a 100+ QB rating and 12:2 (two games with 0 touchdowns and 5/12 in 1 game), while being 1-3 vs. teams over .500—the lone win coming against Indianapolis—with a TD-INT ratio of 5:5 and a 68 QB rating.

Stats don’t always tell the whole story, just the facts.

You also have to take into consideration the inclement weather in game vs. Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia, and the need to rely more on the talented one-two RB duo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

We can agree to disagree on Mayfield, but the one thing that I hope we can all agree on as Browns fans is that Myafield hasn’t been given a fair shot by many despite being on his fourth head coach and offensive system in three years. Despite all of this, in three years under center, Mayfield is just one game under .500 (21-22), which is impressive in spite of all the turmoil on the field and the front office.

Mayfield needs a chance to grow and develop—and mature into being the face of the Browns franchise going forward. If the Browns somehow go 3-2 in their final five games which include their toughest test against the rugged Tennessee Titans, home vs. Baltimore on MNF, on the road in New York vs. the Jets and Giants and the season finale vs. Pittsburgh—whom if they are still undefeated may decide to rest their starters—then Mayfield could improve to either 24-24 or one to two games above .500 as a starter.

The last time the Browns had a QB with a winning record was Derek Anderson back in 2007.

Yeah, it’s been THAT long.

But, let’s harp on those overthrows in the red zone and secretly hope that the Browns dump Mayfield for the likes of Justin Fields, eh?

It’s okay to want to win. It’s okay to demand excellence and expect a certain standard from your QB. But considering Cleveland abusive string of ex’s and going thru QB’s the way Taylor Swift goes thru men, Browns fans are like that woman that has just left a toxic relationship and don’t quite understand–or yet appreciate a good man when they see one, so we are the last football fans to be whining and complaining about their signal-caller considering the abysmal track record we’ve had in judging them ourselves.

Mayfield is our guy. Like it, love it or go root for the Steelers instead.

Dawgfather Out!

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