The Cleveland Browns gutted out a narrow win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon that saved both their hopes at a division title and their postseason aspirations.
But, the AFC North rivalry game almost didn’t go their way.
Despite leading for most of the contest, the Browns almost relinquished all of their multi-score lead in the fourth quarter when the Ravens scored two touchdowns. Baltimore, led by backup quarterback Tyler Huntley at the time, then recovered an onside kick and nearly got into field goal range for the game-winner before Cleveland’s defense came up with the stop.
The Browns escaped with the win, but Baker Mayfield was among those within the organization who wasn’t entirely pleased with how the result came to be. The veteran quarterback explained that he thought Cleveland got too conservative later on in the game and didn’t put Baltimore away during key moments.
“We did enough to win the game, so check that box off, but got conservative,” Mayfield said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I think we need to put that team away. We got ahead early, just need to capitalize when the defense is playing like that and holding them to points. We need to put it away. That’s what good teams do, so we need to improve on that. But we were better in the red zone today and on third down. That’s something that obviously, I’ve talked to you guys about. So we just need to play better in those situations to put the game away.”
#Browns Baker Mayfield: ‘Got conservative; We need to put that team away’ after surviving #Ravens rally https://t.co/jelwG5thYR
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) December 12, 2021
Mayfield makes a strong point. On Sunday, the Browns got lucky that the result came out in their favor. However, in these final few weeks of the regular season and ideally in the playoffs, Cleveland will need to put together a full 60 minutes to win any game they play.
The Browns improved to 7-6 with the win and now find themselves right in the mix for an AFC Wild Card spot. Mayfield and the rest of team will now head back to Cleveland to take on the Las Vegas Raiders next Saturday.
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