Won and still criticism: Baker Mayfield is fighting the increasingly loud criticism of him and the Cleveland Browns and sees a great opportunity for redemption in the coming weeks.

Munich/Cleveland – For weeks, there has been unrest at the Cleveland Browns. Now even though the past NFL game against the Detroit Lions was won 13:10. After the departure of the chosen diva Odell Beckham Junior, the fans and also the media lack a personalised scapegoat.

This also leads to fans now starting to boo at games. Because despite the win and the positive record of 6-5, the fans are unhappy.

The Cleveland Browns are statistically the strongest, weakest team in an NFL division

There was too much expectation before the season to finally go far with this squad. Because even though the record is a positive one, the Browns are in last place in the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4), Cincinnati Bengals (-6-4) and Baltimore Ravens (7-3) are all – albeit close – ahead of them.

Still, the playoffs are far from out of reach. Still, the team seems disjointed. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been playing banged up for weeks with a shoulder injury, but doesn’t want to attribute his faltering performance to that. Statistically (QBR 8.6 on a 0-100 scale), it was Mayfield’s third-worst QB performance of his career despite the win over the Lions. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 176 yards, including a touchdown pass to running back Nick Chubb, but also threw two interceptions. One of them way too far over the head of intended wide receiver Jarvis Landry.

Baker Mayfield ignores part of Browns fans

In some minds, a thought may be starting to form, “Was OBJ and his entourage right after all?”. The criticism of Mayfield – regardless of his injury – is getting louder. So loud, in fact, that boos could be heard all the way down the field at the Browns’ FirstEnergy Stadium. Confronted with that, Mayfield responded nonchalantly but firmly after the game Monday, “Those are probably the same fans that make noise when our offense is trying to work. So I don’t really care about that”.

Mayfield skipped the obligatory post-game press conference for the first time in his career: “I never dodged reporters’ questions. But I wanted to process my emotions first and give it time,” Mayfield explained a day later. Then he added: “I would be the first to say it if I played like shit. But I wouldn’t owe it to the reporters, I’d owe it to my teammates.”

With the final whistle blown, Mayfield also disappeared straight towards the dressing room, not staying on the pitch with his teammates to celebrate the victory. His explanation: “My guys know I’m all about winning. I was just frustrated that I made it harder for us to win that day. I’ve always been like that. But my teammates know me and know how I’m going to attack this week to come back better. “

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield with fighting words

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski tried to protect his quarterback, who has dropped to 27th among all NFL quarterbacks in scoring, according to QBR statistics. “He’s not at 100 percent. He’s battling the injury.” The Browns play the division-leading Baltimore twice in the next two weeks.

“Everybody acts like the world has ended for us. No, we haven’t shown our potential yet. Nobody knows that better than ourselves. We know what’s at stake. And we know what we have to do for it,” Mayfield ended the press conference with a sort of declaration of war.