Baker Mayfield made game’s only mistakes when it mattered most

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield had his offense rolling for much of the game against the Chargers until critical mistakes in the end.

The Browns and Chargers gave NFL fans one of the most exciting games of the 2021 season when they battled back and forth in Week 5.

Los Angeles ultimately came out on top, 47-42. Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield will look back at the result and kick himself for the mistakes he made at the most critical moments.

Baker Mayfield’s late-game management left something to be desired

When Mayfield got the ball back after the Chargers went up 47-42, he had 1:31 to get his team to the endzone. Unfortunately, his sense of urgency didn’t seem to be there. He worked the underneath game while the time ticked down.

The Browns made it close to midfield, but Mayfield had to waste a down to stop the clock. That down became important later when Cleveland faced a fourth-and-10 with 14 seconds remaining. Mayfield’s deep pass fell incomplete and the loss was sealed.

On one hand, Mayfield aspires to be one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. In a do-or-die situation like that, he needs to show more.

On the other hand, Mayfield engineered 42 points. That kind of output should never result in a loss. He now has a 2-3 record when scoring 42 points or more. That’s a team problem, not a quarterback problem.

The Browns defense has to answer for allowing the Chargers to score 26 points in the fourth quarter. Fans may want a little bit more from their quarterback, but they need a whole lot more from their defense in that scenario.