Myles Garrett: Baker Mayfield ‘is playing with his hair on fire’ - cleveland.com

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski made Baker Mayfield the game captain for Sunday night’s prime-time game against the Giants, and Mayfield rewarded him with an all-star performance in the 20-6 victory.

“I just kind of every week think about what the message is going to be for that week, and Baker is a fighter,’' Stefanski said in his Zoom conference. “You guys know that, I know that and I thought that was what was going to be required tonight in this game.”

Playing against his former head coach in Freddie Kitchens, who called the plays in place of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, and playing on national television for the second straight week, Mayfield turned in an all-star performance en route to a 10-4 record, the Browns’ best record since 1994 and first 10-win season since 2007.

“It’s a big honor,’' Mayfield said. “[Stefanski] decided early in the year to go a game captain every week until the potential playoffs. It’s a big thing for me. Coming off of the stretch of games that we’re continuing to build and improve, I feel like I’m gaining more confidence in our team. For him to do that in a primetime game, it’s great to have.”

The captain title didn’t add any pressure, he said.

“No, I’m not trying to do too much,’' he said. “Like I have told you guys before, just doing my job, continuing to get the ball out and just lead these guys and be authentic. You do not have to be a game captain to lead, and that is the best part about this team.”

Stefanski, who doles out superlatives judiciously, effusively praised his resurgent QB.

“Baker was outstanding tonight,’' Stefanski said. “He was dialed in. It’s really what I expect from him, and it’s what he expects from himself. It’s how he practices. I really thought he was sharp.”

Sharp is an understatement. Mayfield completed 27-of-32 attempts for 297 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 126.2 rating. His 84.3 completion percentage set a club record for a player with a minimum of 25 attempts, breaking the mark of 82.9% set by Kelly Holcomb in 2003.

It was also the third highest in team history with a minimum of 15 attempts, trailing Vinny Testaverde’s mark of 91.30 in in 1993 and his own career-high of 85.0 in 2018.

“He’s hot,’' said Browns defensive nd Myles Garrett. “He’s playing with his hair on fire. With our rushing game rolling and our passing game going, it’s hard to stop. We just have to be able to back him up, be able to get stops and get the ball back to them so they can put points on the board.”

With Giants star cornerback James Bradberry on the COVID-19 reserve list as a high risk contact, Mayfield had his way with the backup cornerbacks. Bradberry was tied for the NFL lead with 17 passes broken up, and Mayfield was able to fling it all over the yard with him out.

“He’s playing lights out,’' said Jarvis Landry (7-of-8 targets, 61 yards, 1 TD of Mayfield). “He’s a NFL player and a first-round draft pick. He plays at a high-level and always has. I keep saying that for us to get where we want to go and for us to win these games, it all starts there. He is a big part of everything that we’re trying to do.’'

Executing the play-action game to perfection, Mayfield baited the Giants defenders with his deft play-fakes and put the ball on the money. He went 9-for-12 for 91 with 2 TDs on play-action passes, according to NextGen Stats. He was also 14-of-16 for 130 yards against the blitz, with 2 TDs.

“It goes back to talking to you guys earlier in the season about trusting these guys around me, trusting the guys up front, going through my progressions and just delivering the ball and let them make the plays,’' Mayfield said. “Our guys are making a ton of plays. Our protection continues to be great, and these guys continue to make plays for us. That’s why the confidence is so high and I don’t have to do anything else. It is these guys doing their job.”

In the first half alone, Mayfield went 9-of-9 on play-action with two TDs -- a 2-yarder to Austin Hooper and a 2-yarder to Landry -- and completed 17-of-19 overall for 172 yards and a 139.5 rating.

“We’ve established the run game so well,’' Mayfield said. “These guys up front obviously are playing so well. Our backs are playing well. It takes everybody in the run game to be able to block. To be able to marry that up with the pass game and make it all look similar, it clears things up and our guys are getting open so that makes my job easy.”

Mayfield engineered two 95-yard TD drives, and had for possessions of 10 plays or more.

“We knew from film study that they’re a big zone team, especially with a couple of guys out in the secondary that they were going to have to play a little bit more zone coverage and rely on their front,’' he said. “We had our guys in the right spots. Just that one play at a time mentality, those long drives and continuing to overcome penalties or eliminating negative plays, I am very proud of our guys for hanging in there.”

The Browns are also now 15-1 when Mayfield posts a 100.0-plus rating, including three of his last four games. The result is a double-digit win total for the first time in 13 years.

“It’s something that until I got into the league my rookie year that I did not realize how hard it was to win in the league,’' he said. “It’s something to be proud of, but the best part is everybody in there is like ‘Yeah, 10 wins, but we are on to the next one.’ A notch on the belt and then move on because we are not done yet. That is the best part about this team and I keep stating it about them is they are on to the next one.”

After the game, Mayfield ran over to Kitchens, the tight ends coach, and gave him a hug. The two started out great together in 2018, but fell on hard times last season and went 6-10 in The Season of Great Expectations to seal Kitchens’ fate.

“I appreciate Freddie,’' Mayfield said. “I continue to talk to him every once in a while. He’s lost some weight. Proud of him. He looks good.’'

So does his former QB.