Cleveland Browns find validation, Panthers find hope in Baker Mayfield's Carolina debut

CHARLOTTE, N.C — On one hand, Sunday provided plenty of evidence why the Browns moved on from Baker Mayfield.

Four passes batted down. Four sacks, two by Myles Garrett on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. An ugly interception. Four fumbles, none lost, one muffed low snap turned into a miraculous 28-yard gain by Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

On the other hand, it was easy to see why the Panthers traded for the Browns’ No. 1 overall pick in 2018, even though the Browns prevailed 26-24 at Bank of America Stadium.

For a team that has won five games each of the past three seasons, Panthers players believe Mayfield is the fiery leader they need. Whether or not they believed his denial that he did not tell Buffalo Bills sideline reporter Cynthia Frelund, "I'm going to "[bleep] them up," in reference to his former team, they sound intrigued by his aura.

He is still the same fist-pumping, flag-planting, passion-filled player who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma. The same gritty overachiever who helped the Browns break a 17-year playoff drought in 2020 and change the culture of the downtrodden franchise.

Mayfield led the Panthers back from a 20-7 deficit with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter to take a 24-23 lead with 1:13 to play. But after a seven-play, 64-yard drive, the Panthers were forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Eddie Pineiro when a touchdown would have made the final 73 seconds much more difficult for the Browns.

Because Baker is still Baker, that comes with a distressing caveat for the Panthers.

He still has the moxie, the juice, the spirit. But he is still not good enough to be counted on to bring consistent victories, playoff appearances and a Super Bowl.

The Browns won on Cade York's 58-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, and Mayfield was unable to pull off a fourth-quarter game-winning drive for the sixth time in his last 15 games. He’s achieved that feat six times, three during his rookie season, the last on Oct. 25, 2020 at Cincinnati, a 37-34 victory when he threw for 297 yards and five touchdowns.

Granted, the Panthers’ foibles were not all his doing. A roughing the passer call on defensive end Brian Burns on the Browns’ first play of their final possession was costly. McCaffrey carried only three times for 9 yards in the first half as the Browns opened a 17-7 lead.

The Browns have issues of their own with quarterback Jacoby Brissett, slated to start while Deshaun Watson serves an 11-game league suspension. But there were no visible improvements by Mayfield to convince observers that he can be the Panthers’ savior or that the Browns made a franchise-altering mistake by trading him.

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Season-altering possibly, because the Browns’ fractured relationship with Mayfield was beyond repair and he couldn’t be retained to fill in for Watson. Brissett’s inadequacies were on display and don’t bode well for a season that gets increasingly more difficult after the first four games.

Mayfield faced his flaws honestly and realized the outcome might have been different if not for his poor first half.

“Disappointed in the way I started honestly, a ton of mistakes, self-inflicted mistakes in the first half by our offense. I take the blame on that for sure,” he said. “Balls on the ground too many times, just miscommunication and just things that we can get fixed. Disappointing because there are things we know we can do and we've handled before. Those are the ones you think about, you harp on, but they're fixable. That's the positive.”

Mayfield had no answers for the slow start.

“We can't hesitate. We've just gotta be aggressive early, gotta be confident early and just go out there and just believe in the plan,” he said. “Don't wait for things to happen before we have to wake up. Just go out there and execute.”

Panthers coach Matt Rhule thought Mayfield and the offense executed better in the second half. In the fourth quarter, Mayfield scored on a 7-yard run, excitedly firing the ball at the end zone wall, and threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Robbie Anderson to cut the gap to 23-21. That's what the Panthers believe can get them going.

“Obviously, there were the two plays where Myles sacked Baker that were obviously big plays in the game,” Rhule said. “But I thought Baker just kept battling, just kept attacking and in the end made the plays that we needed to make to get back in the game."

Asked what he saw from Mayfield that convinced him he is the right quarterback moving forward, Rhule said, “I thought Baker stood in there and took all the bullets and took hits and made the plays down the stretch to get us back into the game.”

Stunning finish:Cade York's game-winning field goal lifts Cleveland Browns over Carolina Panthers | Quick hits

In his fifth year in the league with his contract expiring and his future uncertain, Mayfield saw positives as he helped the Panthers overcome first-half adversity.

“That just kind of shows the resilience of this team, what we could be and what we're going to work towards,” Mayfield said. “Great teams are more consistent and it starts with myself. So I'll get that fixed.

“This team fought. That's why this one is disappointing.”

His biggest takeaway from the game will sound all too familiar to Browns fans who put their faith in Mayfield for four years. It was a response that Browns General Manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski may have tired of, indications of flaws in his game they deemed unfixable that the Panthers will now try to correct.

“When we look at the plan to win each week, just don't beat yourself, and today I didn't do a good enough job to do that,” Mayfield said.

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Baker Mayfield's performance justifies Browns decision