The Cleveland Browns were expected by some to be Super Bowl contenders going into 2019. Instead, the Browns ended up winning just six games and missing the playoffs, resulting in the firing of first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens.
Of course, Kitchens is not the only person receiving blame. Second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield has also been a lightning rod for criticism this season, and the latest person to pile on his former NFL wide receiver Dez Bryant, who took to Twitter to blame Mayfield for Kitchens' dismissal:
“Baker mayfield plays the biggest part in this…had a stud cast around him under performed and got out performed by somebody he talked down on Danny dimes…big mouth and being a one read QB not going to cut it.. kitchens put the game in his players hands,” tweeted Bryant.
Bryant makes some good points. Mayfield did a lot of talking before the season started, including questioning why the New York Giants drafted Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick of the NFL Draft. As Bryant noted, Jones actually played better than Mayfield this season, although most quarterbacks in the league did.
On the year, Mayfield threw for 3,827 yards, 22 touchdowns and 21 interceptions while completing just 59.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 78.8. This comes on the heels of an impressive rookie campaign in which Mayfield set the single-season rookie record with 27 passing touchdowns.
Mayfield also lobbied for Kitchens—who spent the second half of 2018 as his offensive coordinator—to land the Browns' head-coaching job last offseason.
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