It was the NFL game of the year, the most spectacular contest in this crazy 2020 pandemic season. The Cleveland Browns didn't win, but Baker Mayfield and Kareem Hunt won a lot of respect against the Baltimore Ravens.
Mayfield hit Hunt on a 22-yard scoring strike with 1:04 left, enabling the Browns — down 42-35 at the time — to tie the Ravens in a wild shootout between two of the last four Heisman Trophy winners, Mayfield (2017) and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson (2016).
Jackson and the Ravens won 47-42, thanks to a 55-yard field goal from future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker with two seconds left (followed by a last-play safety on a futile set of laterals by the Browns), but Mayfield had this signature moment with Hunt, a reminder of how much Cleveland has evolved this season under first-year coach Kevin Stefanski:
47 seconds later… @BakerMayfield answers back!
📺: #BALvsCLE on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wVjLQzz43l pic.twitter.com/N6q7jC0W1c— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2020
The Browns were down 34-20 late in the third quarter. Mayfield threw a bad interception, and it seemed the wheels were about to fall off for a young Cleveland team which is just beginning to learn what it takes to be great in the NFL. This is the early phase of the Browns' evolution, whereas the Ravens — 14-2 last season — entered 2020 with Super Bowl expectations and nothing less.
For the Browns to erase that 14-point deficit, and then tie the Ravens again at 42, shows how resilient Baker Mayfield has become, but also how adept Stefanski has become at giving his offense solutions in crucial moments. Cleveland's offense has the right coach in place, with a playbook which fits the personnel.
The Browns have finally found the formula they lacked under Freddie Kitchens and Hue Jackson. They might not make the franchise's first Super Bowl this season, but if they eventually reach the NFL's biggest event in the near future, they'll look back on this game versus the Ravens as a moment when they grew up.
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