Monday leftovers

One singular moment this season serves as a microcosm of the value of Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. It unfolded midway through the second quarter of Sunday's 27-25 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Browns up, 7-6, driving and in command, first and goal at the Jaguars' five-yard line. Mayfield is seemingly in control of the situation. As he takes the shotgun snap, wide receiver Rashard Higgins, flanked left, delays a second before running a shallow cross in the end zone.

No one in the confused Jags secondary picks him up. Mayfield could have shot-putted the football to him for an easy touchdown. Instead, he double-clutched, rocked back on his right foot and delivered a pass that sailed far over Higgins' head.

You -- and that means everyone reading this -- could have completed that pass. Thats how easy it was to execute. Two plays later, Mayfield sailed another one over Jarvis Landry's head. What the hell is going on here?

The Browns got points -- a Cody Parkey field goal -- out of the possession. But that is missing the point entirely. This team needs to score touchdowns when those opportunities present themselves. There is no excuse for Mayfield to miss those opportunities.

He later overthrew two other receivers and underthrew a couple of others wide open. This is serious stuff. Mayfield is being counted on to be the linchpin of a team desperately attempting  to get into the postseason for the first time since 2002. Yes an 8-3 record sure looks nice at this point of the season.

But let's be honest. Mayfield might not be the right quarterback for this team. This isn't the first -- nor will it be the last -- time he badly misses an open target. This is a team so talent-starved on defense, the offense must rescue it on a weekly basis.

There is no room for Mayfield to screw up the routine throw. Those are the ones he's not only expected to make, it's imperative. He too often says he "hates" missing throws. You'd think by now he would clean up that little problem and stash the excuses.

"I know I can be better . . . and I will be," he said following the game. "Job isn't finished. Lot of ball left. We're 8-3 and not satisfied. That's the best part about this team." As ex-Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer often said, "Deeds, men, not words. Deeds."

This offense -- no, make that the entire team --- needs Mayfield to stop making the kinds of mistakes he made as a rookie. His confidence level in the pocket -- and he'll deny this -- seems to be dropping. Failing to connect on throws like the one to Higgins tends to nag. 

His footwork on straight five- or seven-step drops does not serve him well. He does not seem to have a feel of where the pressure is coming from. He rarely escapes pressure and seems reticent to step up in the pocket when cornered. Pocket presence is absent.

But isn't this the guy who completed 22 straight passes and threw for five touchdowns against Cincinnati in week seven, argue Mayfield acolytes? No question he was outstanding that Sunday. But that means nothing if he follows with three straight games without throwing a touchdown pass. Inconsistency, thy name is Baker Mayfield.

Mayfield came out of college completing more than 68% of his passes, That unerring accuracy has deserted him in the National Football League. He is barely over 61% this year in an offense that affords him all kinds of opportunities to succeed.

Kevin Stefanski's button-down offense relies heavily on the running game, which opens up all kinds of  possibilities for the quarterback to be successful. To be fair, Mayfield has been more accurate when running away from the pocket. Play action and misdirection plays featuring bootlegs afford him the time to complete passes. 

As has been mentioned here before, Mayfield has become a game manager. But when they need him to step up and become a rescuer when things do not go as planned, he has failed more often than not. Sunday's little near-disaster in north Florida might be a portent of things to come.

If the injury-riddled 1-10 Jaguars can scare the crap out of the Browns, imagine what Tennessee and Pittsburgh can do. That game should not have been close at all. 

The fact the Jags could have tied that game with a couple of minutes left in regulation tells you all you need to know about how far this team -- really the offense -- has to go before becoming genuine contenders, their terrific record thus far notwithstanding.

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Myles Garrett will be back for Sunday's game in Tennessee and it couldn't come at a better time. The defensive line Sunday was -- trying to be nice here -- mediocre. The pass rush was in effective, giving Jaguars quarterback Mike Glennon way too much time to throw.

The clueless Cleveland secondary had a tough time locating Jaguars receivers probably because defensive coordinator Joe Woods chose to play more zone than man coverage. In order to be effective in zone, the opposing quarterback must feel heat. Glennon felt only warmth.

Losing strong safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. on the first play of the game didn't help. Harrison injured his shoulder/collarbone area making the tackle on rookie running back James Robinson and did not return. 

Karl Joesph, whom Harrison had supplanted at the position several weeks ago, replaced him, immediately downgrading the position. It appeared as though he was the main culprit for the blown coverage on rookie Collin Johnson's 46-yard catch and run for a score late in the second quarter.

Kevin Johnson, who normally plays in the slot, started in place of cornerback Denzel Ward (calf strain) outside and did not exactly embarrass himself, but he is no Ward. Tavierre Thomas took over against slot receivers.

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Finally some life on special teams, which have produced almost nothing all season in the way of return yardage. D'Ernest Johnson was reposbible indirectly for 10 of the Browns' 27 points against the Jaguars.

The running back, whose playing time is severely limited because he has Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in front of him, returned three kickoffs for 93 yards. The first, a 43-yard jaunt, gave the Cleveland offense a short field to work with at its 45-yard line on the second possession of the game.

Five plays later, Mayfield hooked up with Landry, who had to make a diving catch, to give the Browns their first lead of the afternoon at 7-3. His 33-yard return early in the third quarter triggered a 10-play drive that ended with a Cody Parkey field goal, which helped retake the lead at 20-19.

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Finally . . . Chubb, who has put up five 100-yard games out of the seven he has played this season, is a lock to pass 1,000 yards again. He is on pace for 1,232 yards. He is averaging 102.7 yards a game overall and 128 a game since returning to the lineup three games ago. . . . The Browns dominated so much on offense, Jamie Gillan punted only once -- after the three-and-out game-opening possession. . . . Has KhaDarel Hodge replaced Higgins as the club's No 2 receiver? Three receptions on three targets for 31 yards sort of suggests that's the case. Higgins was targeted twice -- the aforementioned bad throw by Mayfield -- and caught one for 15 yards. . . .Tight end David Njoku was not targeted at all. Hmmmmm. . . . Parkey has missed only two field goals and one extra point this season. . . . Ex-Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez, now with Arizona, is on thin ice after missing three critical kicks in the last five games.