Browns vs. Chiefs: Key questions for both teams in the Divisional Round
By Scott Loring
Which Browns team will show up?
Which Cleveland team will show up on Sunday—the one that just whipped Big Ben and the Steelers in the playoffs, or the one that lost to the Jets just two weeks prior?
If it weren’t the playoffs, most pundits would likely have this one down as a Chiefs win. But there’s something about the postseason that causes people to overthink things. Everywhere you look, there are people picking the Browns to win based on their performance in Pittsburgh during Wild Card weekend.
That’s all well and good, but the Chiefs aren’t going to sail the opening snap into the end zone like the Steelers did. Mahomes isn’t going to gift five(!) turnovers to the Browns like Ben Roethlisberger did. Cleveland benefitted from a ton of Pittsburgh mistakes, and while the Browns outplayed the Steelers that game, there were several unforced errors that shouldn’t be attributed to anyone but the Steelers themselves.
And let’s not forget that in Week 16, the Browns wet their pants at New York in a game they sorely needed to win. If Sam Darnold, Frank Gore, and Jamison Crowder can beat these Browns, the Chiefs should be able to find several pathways to a win on Sunday.
Browns Extras 10
What kind of statement can Baker Mayfield make with a win at Arrowhead?
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has had a tumultuous beginning to his career, but he certainly has turned the corner. Mayfield has now taken the Browns further than countless Cleveland signal callers could do in the last three decades. The wild card win over the Steelers marked Mayfield’s 12th win of 2020, doubling his career total of 12 wins prior to this season. The former Oklahoma Sooner didn’t set career highs in yards or touchdowns in 2020, but the big difference in his game this season was how he cut down on interceptions. After throwing 14 and 21 picks in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Mayfield has taken excellent care of the ball in 2020, throwing just 8 interceptions.
The harsh criticism Mayfield faced in the last two seasons hasn’t been unfounded; After the Browns selected Mayfield, other quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson were selected later in the first round and, up until 2020, displayed more potential than Mayfield. Now Mayfield stands in line to clash with one of those two young quarterbacks if he can pull off a monumental upset in Kansas City.
This game will mark the third time Mayfield and Mahomes have squared off. Mayfield won the only time they met in college, but both players gave us a barnburner for the ages in a 66-59 Oklahoma win over Texas Tech. In 2018, Mahomes exacted his revenge with a commanding win in Cleveland. Now the two former teammates at Texas Tech will line up in the biggest game of Mayfield’s career.
Beating the Chiefs would give Mayfield a true signature win. Allen has tried and failed to beat the Chiefs. Jackson has tried (three times) and failed. An upset shocker in January at Arrowhead could catapult Mayfield ahead of several other young signal callers in the league and put him in the conversation about who are the better quarterbacks in the game today.