Baker Mayfield has to be better for Browns to reach their ceiling

The Cleveland Browns could contend for a Super Bowl but quarterback Baker Mayfield has to perform far better than he did in Week 4. 

With a win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Cleveland Browns moved to 3-1 on the season. For a team that came into the year with playoffs being a bare-minimum expectation, they are off to a good start. However, quarterback Baker Mayfield has to raise his individual bar.

In a league where quarterbacks are routinely (and, largely, wrongly) attributed wins and losses, Sunday’s victory for Cleveland can’t be given to Mayfield. Truth be told, the Browns won in spite of their quarterback missing plays that he should’ve made look routine.

Mayfield finished the game going an abysmal 15-of-33 for 155 yards with his only venture across the goal line being a two-point conversion attempt to Andy Janovich. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that he didn’t turn the ball over. Yet, it’s something that the quarterback must improve upon moving forward this season.

Baker Mayfield has the power to take the Browns to the next level if he locks in.

Individually, this is obviously a crucial year for Baker Mayfield as he looks to ink a long-term contract extension with the Browns. But leading Cleveland to a deep postseason run would certainly be a feather in his cap in those negotiations. And, bringing it full circle, this team could do that with ease if the quarterback finds another gear.

Despite somewhat pedestrian numbers through the first three weeks, Mayfield looked quite good to start the year. He was deadly accurate and doing what was needed in an offense that, for all the focus on No. 6, is still predicated on running the ball with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

Those traits weren’t there for Mayfield on Sunday, though. Whether it was missing Odell Beckham Jr. for a surefire touchdown late in the game or overthrows throughout the entire 60-minute affair, he wasn’t sharp and was lucky that some of those misfires didn’t come back to bite him. He was similarly lucky that the running backs and defense played at such a high level to propel the Browns to the win.

Between the end of last season and start of this year, there’s no question about the talent of Baker Mayfield. But as he eyes a new contract and hopes to lead Cleveland to new heights, it’s about showing that consistently and not needing the rest of the roster to cover his warts with any regularity. Maybe this game was the anomaly but it does put pressure on Mayfield to prove that’s the case if so.