Don’t look now, but with just three weeks left in the season, Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield has his team still planted in the hunt for a playoff spot.
If Mayfield pulls off the feat, it would mark the first postseason for Cleveland in 16 years.
Those hopes were buttressed by a dramatic 17-16 victory at Broncos Stadium at Mile High—the Browns’ first win there since 1990. Until now, the Cleveland faithful have associated match-ups against that opponent with a franchise rock-bottom known as “The Drive” during the 1986 AFC Championship Game.
But times are changing in the Dog Pound courtesy of Mayfield. The rookie boasts the second best QB rating in the red zone in the league with 117.1, just behind Drew Brees’s 117.2.
“He’s turning in an all-time great rookie campaign while giving Browns fans a taste of what it means to have a franchise quarterback,” writes The Bleacher Report‘s Brent Sobleski. “He elevates those around him. His teammates want to play alongside him. The team isn’t just getting better; it’s competing for something more than pride.”
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