Sunday could’ve gone better for the Browns.
Not only did they suffer a 45-7 blowout loss in New England. But Baker Mayfield left the game with a knee injury and didn’t return.
Not that Mayfield was having a good day to begin with. The Patriots held him to 11-of-21 for just 73 yards. He also threw for a touchdown and an interception.
It’s a shambolic loss for the Browns, and could be made worse if Mayfield is out for an extended period. The loss drops Cleveland to 5-5, another step out of the playoff picture, and it’s hard to see them climbing back into it with Case Keenum at quarterback.
The Browns had just erased a major distraction with Odell Beckham Jr. leaving, and looked good last week when they blew out the Bengals on the road. But a Patriots team that’s now won four in a row was simply too much to handle.
The good news for Cleveland is that, even if Mayfield misses next week’s game, they’re playing the Lions, who are still winless after tying the Steelers on Sunday. Perhaps the Browns can afford to be without their starting quarterback for that one.
But the longer-term outlook for the Browns is still worrisome. Before the season, they were expected to be contending for the playoffs, if not the Super Bowl. Right now, they look pretty far from that goal.
And Mayfield going off likely puts them even farther away.
