After another dominant win against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns could be stating their case as the new team-to-beat in the AFC. This may be a bit premature seeing as we're only three weeks into the season, but over the course of three games, the Browns have looked like legit Super Bowl contenders.
Fresh off a close loss to the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Browns followed that game up with back-to-back wins against the Houston Texans and now the Chicago Bears. With another big game from Baker Mayfield and a balanced offensive attack featuring major contributions from Odell Beckham Jr., Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, and Donovan Peoples-Jones, the Browns have been firing on all cylinders.
Add to that a strong defensive showing from Myles Garrett, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and Denzel Ward, and there's no limit to how far this deep and talented Cleveland Browns squad can go. Coming off their second consecutive win of the season, let's take a look at the two biggest takeaways from their dominant Week 3 win over the Bears.
Baker Mayfield's playing like an MVP candidate
With another 200+ yard day in the books for Baker Mayfield, it goes without saying that he's been playing MVP-caliber football for the Browns through the first three weeks of the season. This was put on full display during the Browns' blowout win against the Bears on Sunday afternoon.
Now it has only been three games and Baker will have to keep up his stellar play throughout the year to be in the MVP conversation, but considering how dominant the Browns offense has looked with him under center so far, it seems like he can go only up from here. Looking to follow-up with another dominant performance in their Week 4 match-up against the Minnesota Vikings, we can definitely expect another big game from Baker next week.
Myles Garrett has gotten his groove back
In their Week 3 matchup against the Bears, Myles Garrett posted six tackles and 4.5 sacks after a quiet showing against the Texans the weekend prior. Aiming to build on his dominant performance against the Bears, Garrett will be ready to pick apart the Vikings offensive line and make things difficult for Kirk Cousins next Sunday.
After their lopsided victory against the Bears, it seems quite apparent that the Browns defense is far more superior when Garrett is playing at his absolute best. So if the Browns are to make another deep playoff run this season, then Garrett will have to play Pro Bowl caliber football for them all season long as they look to overtake the Chiefs as the team-to-beat in the AFC.
Now that Garrett has gotten his groove back and is ready to continually lead the charge for the Browns on defense, there's no doubt that the Browns will be a hand full for their upcoming opponents. With all this going for Myles Garrett, it won't be long before he helps turn the Browns into a top five defensive unit in the NFL.
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