Unlikely Baker Mayfield Stat Perfectly Encapsulates Browns’ Epic Playoff Futility

Baker Mayfield looked so effective in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ wild-card playoff win that the Cleveland Browns may have been left wondering if they made a grave mistake.

In Monday’s 32—9 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles, Mayfield took care of business at Raymond James Stadium in his first postseason victory for Tampa Bay.

But Mayfield’s most surprising stat probably wasn’t that he threw three touchdowns against zero interceptions or that he joined Tom Brady as the only other quarterback in Bucs history to record 300-plus passing yards in a playoff game.

Incredibly, he now officially has more postseason wins (two) than the Browns (one) since 1995. What makes this stat even more humiliating for the Browns? Mayfield was under center for Cleveland’s only playoff victory during that span, in January 2021.

Mayfield helped the Browns clinch their first playoff win in over two decades with a thrilling 48—37 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round of the 2020 postseason. Three years later, Mayfield battled through rib and ankle injuries to lead the underdog Bucs to glory on Monday night, spearheading an efficient offense that trounced the Birds in every major statistical category.

While the Joe Flacco-led Browns got bounced from the playoffs in a wild-card blowout to the Houston Texans, Mayfield, in his first year with the Bucs, still will be playing this weekend in the divisional round. That’s certainly one way to stick it to the franchise that traded him away in 2022. 

The Browns already have started six different quarterbacks since Mayfield’s departure and, as the record books will show, have long failed to win a playoff game without him.

The Buccaneers will play at the Detroit Lions in the NFC divisional round at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC.