The Cleveland Browns played like legitimate Super Bowl contenders while jumping out to a 22-10 lead at the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday but were ultimately outscored 23-7 over the final two quarters of play and lost 33-29.
Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw a brutal interception on his final play of the contest, explained Wednesday he told his teammates there are positives to take from the defeat but that he believes the wrong team ended the day with an unbeaten record.
Baker Mayfield with the fatal interception that ends it for the Browns against the Chiefs…pic.twitter.com/VFaNFZsx7p
— Kevin Gray Jr. (@KevinGraySports) September 12, 2021
"I think there’s a fine line of walking, you know beating yourself up about it and then realizing there’s 16 more and I think we should beat ourselves up about it because we feel like we should have won that game, but there’s 16 more," Mayfield said when speaking with the media, according to Daryl Ruiter of Cleveland's 92.3 The Fan. "This one should sting and you need to learn from it because we had that game and we gotta close it out. So I think there’s a fine line of walking that and my message to them was you know what? We’re going to be really good if we just do our jobs and continue to be efficient and move the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field.
"But this one needs to sting. You need to remember that, that all the little things matter and that’s how you need to approach this week of practice."
Mayfield also addressed the costly late-game pick:
#Browns Baker Mayfield on his interception late against the Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/QaNW2zFhGw
— Fred Greetham (@FredGreetham9) September 15, 2021
Mayfield and company will try to rebound for this coming Sunday's home opener against the Houston Texans, but Cleveland's QB1 will be without star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for the second straight week as Beckham continues his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last October.
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