Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Do you finally believe in Baker in the Browns?

  • Well, I believe in the Browns.

  • I'm not sure I believe in Baker.

  • Mayfield.

  • I think Bart Scott earlier this morning on get upset at best, there's no quarterback who's done less with more than Baker.

  • Mayfield.

  • The jury's still out about him.

  • We know that they're eight and three, but we also know that this guy is only complete in 21.

  • 61% of his passes only thrown for 2100 yards over the 1st 10 11 games or so.

  • And so when I look at it from that perspective 17 touchdowns, seven interceptions.

  • There's Nothingto just needs at first say nothing that that blows you away, but he's not the morning abundance of interceptions.

  • We'll give him credit for that, but look at what he has.

  • He's got Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt at the running back spot.

  • Even with Odell Beckham Jr going, you still got Jarvis, Landry and the group and hoping those boys So you've got a multitude of weapons.

  • Kevin Stefanski deserves a lot of credit because of how he's basically kept kept Baker Mayfield contained per se and utilize the other assets around him and just just basically have asked Baker Mayfield not to lose the damn game.

  • And to his credit, he hasn't.

  • But let's remind everybody that outside, When they lost their last game, it was against the Las Vegas Raiders, a game in which they only put up six points the entire game.

  • Since that time they beat in the Houston, Texas, we know what struggles they have had, even though D Shawn Watson has been lights out.

  • And then after that, they played the Eagles and they played the Jacksonville Jaguars.

  • So let's pump the brakes and not act like, Oh, my Lord, they're eight and three.

  • It's something special going on in Cleveland.

  • The quality of competition that you have taken that you have taken out does have something to do with that as well.

  • And so I look a Cleveland.

  • Do I believe in Baker?

  • No.

  • Do I believe in the Browns?

  • Yeah, that's where I'm at with it right now, but only a little bit.

  • They'll make the playoffs.

  • I don't expect them to make any noise to be very clear.

  • Well, I don't know what you're arguing.

  • Are you arguing that you don't believe in them because you made the argument at the end there.

  • The Jaguars by two points under a field goal, the Eagles by five points under a touchdown, and the Texans who are to payment at the time by a field goal.

  • That's how they started winning games.

  • I do not believe in the Browns, and it's because I don't believe in Baker Mayfield, and it took me a while to get there with Baker.

  • I held out hope for Baker, but he doesn't do anything special.

  • You could throw the ball well enough.

  • He could read a defense well enough.

  • He could move well enough, but nothing's really stands out.

  • And so he could be a good enough quarterback, but a good enough quarterback to win a Super Bowl?

  • No, I don't think so.

  • He needs a whole lot around him.

  • I don't think he's good enough to win the whole thing.

  • And, in fact, to divisional games he played, they got destroyed.

  • They got destroyed by Baltimore Week one.

  • They got destroyed by Pittsburgh when it looked like maybe they could be coming on.

  • No, I don't believe in the Browns for the reasons you pointed out, I don't believe in the Browns and and it's because, like, maybe if you replace Baker with a better quarterback, I maybe I would think, Yeah, actually, they do have a couple of good backs, you know?

  • And with Odell, here's an example of It's not a matter of addition by subtraction.

  • It's a matter of separating two players.

  • Baker Mayfield is better off without Odell because they have zero chemistry, and I know Odell is way better off without Baker.

  • So, like, you saw the team kind of come together when there wasn't an issue.

  • A zero chemistry issue between the quarterback and the wide out.

  • But you're right.

  • Landry has left.

  • He can, he can.

  • He's a really good receiver, and they got a couple of excellent running backs and they got a good enough defense with some big time playmakers.

  • If it weren't for Baker, maybe I would believe in them.

  • But bakers on the team.

  • He's on Lee, okay?

  • And so I don't Well, I would say this.

  • The reason I'll say I do is because again to win in the playoffs, you gotta have a defense.

  • You gotta have a running game, and when you look at the Browns defense, particularly the ability to get to the quarterback, especially with Myles Garrett in there.

  • Obviously, that's formidable.

  • And then when you combine that with Chub and Kareem Hunt, especially since Chuck has been back, you see what he's been able to do.

  • I'm just of the mindset that when you look at them right now, you simply can't ignore what this guy is going to bring to the table.

  • Their last three games, that three game winning streak he's rushed for 126 yards, 114 yards.

  • And then last week against Jacksonville, 144 yards averaging at least 5.7 yards in each game carrying each game.

  • Nick Chubb is that do this brother is something special, And so when you look at him from coming out of the backfield, you can take that kind of game in tow, on the road or even at home, or, you know, off off Lake Erie in inclement weather.

  • If you can run the football and you can defend, you could do some things, particularly to get to the postseason, to be a potent threat to somebody else.

  • So in that regard, I say Yes again.

  • I don't believe in Baker Mayfield, either.

  • But I do believe that that defense could get to the quarterback.

  • And I do believe that running game will go wherever the team goes.

  • They could be at home.

  • They could travel on the road.

  • The running game will be there for them.

  • The combination of the two makes me say to them, Excuse me, I believe that this team could get to the players and obviously they could make a little bit of noise.

  • Potentially.

  • I just don't believe in Baker Mayfield.

  • That's why I don't view them as Super Bowl quality.

  • Somehow, some way.

  • I think that he ultimate mess it up because of opposing defense will say, Let's make Baker, Mayfield beat us.

  • The Browns have benefited from a very, very, very soft schedule.

  • And in fact, even some teams that started playing better later on in the season weren't playing well when the Browns faced.

  • Um, you know the Texans, for example, or earlier in the season, Washington.

  • Who's played better recently.

  • So these air bad teams that the Browns faced when those teams were bad, But you even look at like the Bengals earlier in the season they win.

  • It was a one score game against Cincinnati.

  • They're just They don't win by very much when they do.

  • And when they do win, it's almost always against a bad team.

  • The Colts early on is probably their best win of the season, another team that's played better as the season wore on.

  • Look what's coming up now for them.

  • The Titans this week, then the Ravens ostensibly.

  • I mean, you would think the Ravens to be healthy and have their quarterback and players back by then, the Giants, who have also played better as the season is gone on.

  • Then they have a gimme against the Jets and then the Steelers.

  • So it's not exactly a murderer's row coming up because the Browns whole seasonal sketch whole season schedule was soft.

  • But it is a tougher part off their schedule.

  • I expect them to lose at least two of those games, and I don't expect them to get a win in the playoffs, Max, I will tell you this.

  • I think that you're being a little bit hard on Cleveland when it comes to the softness of their schedule.

  • because you got to remember the schedule the set before the season is played.

  • Obviously, thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.

  • Subscribe to ESPN plus.

Do you finally believe in Baker in the Browns?

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it