The Browns will have to figure out who their starting quarterback will be this year, Tyrod Taylor or Baker Mayfield. Both played well Thursday night in the Browns’ 20-10 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium in the preseason opener for both teams. Good for the Browns. Not so good for the Giants.
Taylor and Mayfield both led the Browns to first-half touchdowns, which pleased the Cleveland coaching staff but proved the Giants still have work to do on defense before the Sept. 9 opener against Jacksonville.
With all the attention on rookie running back Saquon Barkley and the Giants’ revamped offense, the defense has gotten a virtual pass during training camp despite coming off a season where the unit ranked second to last in the NFL, allowing 373 yards per game.
The one-game suspension of Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins, the regression of Eli Apple, and the infighting between teammates was all part of the defense’s shortcomings last year. This was their chance to start fresh under new defensive coordinator James Bettcher and put some positive plays on film.
Instead, Taylor and Mayfield offered a sobering reminder that if the Giants don’t develop a dominant defense this year, it may not matter how much Barkley brings to the offense.
“I think we can have one of the top defenses in the league,” linebacker Alec Ogletree insisted.
Perhaps, but it’s still a work in progress.
Barkley ran for 39 yards the first time he touched the ball and helped the Giants to a 3-0 lead. That thrilled the home crowd. But after an exchange of possessions, Taylor took the Browns 66 yards on four plays for the first touchdown of the game. A 21-yard pass to a wide-open Rashard Higgins was followed by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to tight end David Njoku, who was open behind the Giants linebackers.
It was a disappointing series for the first-team defense and exposed two problems the Giants suffered from last year — the inability to pressure the opposing quarterback in key situations and keeping tight ends out of the end zone.
Mayfield the shredded the home team’s No. 2 defense. In his second series at quarterback, Mayfield showed glimpses why he was the No. 1-overall pick. He led the Browns on a 14-play, 72-yard drive that ended with Mayfield throwing a tight 10-yard TD pass to Njoku. The two-point conversion failed.
Besides not figuring out how to cover Njoku, the Giants allowed Mayfield to convert on third-and-18 with a 21-yard completion to wide receiver C.J. Board. Mayfield also kept the drive alive by scrambling for first downs on third-and-6 and fourth-and-2. By halftime, the Browns had out-gained the Giants in total yardage 208 to 141 with Taylor and Mayfield combining for 9-of-16 for 169 yards and two touchdowns. By comparison, Eli Manning and Davis Webb completed 12-of-27 for 96 yards and no scores.
Mayfield offered an exclamation point by adding a 54-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway in the third quarter for a 20-3 lead. Afterward, the Giants tried to put a positive spin on the evening, pointing to a run defense that allowed just 50 yards on 33 carries.
“There were stretches that were positive,” Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said. “I thought our run defense was good.”
The pass defense wasn’t so good. Mayfield completed 11-of-20 for 212 yards and two scores, while the Browns as a team completed 18-of-29 for 333 yards and three TDs.
“I thought we were tight in coverage, but at times we didn’t make enough plays,” Shurmur said.
Mayfield made enough plays to impress in his NFL debut. Among those confident he will succeed in the NFL is Sterling Shepard, the Giants wide receiver who played one year with Mayfield at Oklahoma in 2015. Shepard was a senior. Mayfield was the sophomore newcomer who won the starting job in camp.
“He’s a great competitor,” Shepard said. “I don’t see anything that’s going to hold that guy back.”
Especially when he is playing against the Giants defense.