Rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield on Thursday rallied the Cleveland Browns from a 14-point deficit to win 21-17 over the New York Jets, snapping a 19-game winless drought dating back almost two years.
Mayfield, who was the top overall pick in the NFL entry draft, came into the game late in the first half to replace injured starter Tyrod Taylor.
He led the comeback by completing 17 passes for 201 yards as Cleveland won for the first time since December 24, 2016.
Photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY
“As corny as it sounds, this is how my whole life has gone. I had a backup role and had to fight through some things and had to be mentally ready to go,” Mayfield said.
Down 14-0, the Browns brought in the former Heisman Trophy winner to try and salvage some pride for a team who were in the middle of the NFL’s second-longest winless streak since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Mayfield basked in the spotlight, leading four scoring drives and coming out on top in a matchup against Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold.
“I feel good. We finally put the pieces together,” Mayfield said. “We had a couple things the last few weeks that cost us some games, but you got to fight through the adversity.”
Cleveland passed on Darnold to select Mayfield in the draft and there were no second guessers at the FirstEnergy Stadium.
“I have always told myself that I am different,” Mayfield said. “I got the plays, now I got to go do it. I felt that with better players around me, I should be able to do it.”
Cleveland got two 1-yard touchdown runs from Carlos Hyde.
Darnold had one last chance to try and win it for the Jets, but was intercepted by Terrence Mitchell with 11 seconds remaining.
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
RSS