NFL Power Rankings, Week 8: Packers bounce back, Seahawks stumble

The first 15 minutes of the Cleveland Browns Week 7 game was completely awful. Baker Mayfield threw an interception on his first pass and, on that play, Odell Beckham Jr. and center J.C. Tretter were both injured. Tretter came back in and continued to play but OBJ was lost for the game. On top of that, Mayfield was 0-for-5 passing in the first quarter and Cleveland was fortunate to be within 7-3, as their defense set them up for an easy field goal.

From there, things went completely differently for Mayfield and the Browns. The third-year quarterback completed his next 21 passes, which was a team-record. The one incompletion that followed, was him stopping the clock since they were without any timeouts on the final drive. Mayfield then promptly completed his very next pass, which was a 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones, which proved to be the game-winner.

In all, Mayfield finished with 297 yards and five touchdowns as he quickly silenced his doubters who were coming out in full force following his early struggles. As for the Browns, they’re now 5-2 and well on their way to having their first winning season since 2007. It might not always be pretty but this team looks much better under rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski. And while there’s concern that OBJ could be gone for the season, Mayfield proved he can get the job done with the remaining players — and there could be an argument he works better with them than he does Beckham.