Browns offense goes as Mayfield does, which needs to be regularly

The Cleveland Browns offense through three games has looked constipated. And for all of the issues the team has on that side of the ball, they all become much smaller if Baker Mayfield plays to his ability on a consistent basis.

Everything with the Cleveland Browns offense significantly improves the second Baker Mayfield starts playing well. The tackle situation isn't great. The injuries and suspensions are problematic. There are certain play calls that are indefensible. The penalties are inexcusable. And yet all of those fall by the wayside and the Browns start winning at a good clip the second Mayfield breaks out of this funk and plays to his ability. It's just a question of when that happens, whether it's this week against the Baltimore Ravens or if it takes until the bye week.

The first three games, the offense under Baker Mayfield looks eerily reminiscent of how it looked when Tyrod Taylor was leading it last year; constipated. There's no flow. The quarterback isn't getting rid of the ball on time, taking bad sacks and the offense has to work so much harder to get gains that that were often taken for granted the second half of last year.

Defenses are doing more in terms of disguising looks, which has caused Mayfield to second guess himself at times, so when they aren't, he's not trusting what he's seeing from the defense and some of his decisions are late and then a product of being rushed. He's bailing out of clean pockets at a league leading rate only to get himself sacked for it.

This is all temporary. He'll get through it. When he's right, he's as good as anyone in the league in terms of what he's capable of. Through all of this struggle, he still shows off the brilliance he's capable in terms of his velocity, timing and ball placement. And that might be the most frustrating part. There are drives where you can see the kid who was so special as a rookie going right down the field and leading the offense into the end zone. Then they get the ball back and the stagnation returns.

The way the Browns defense is playing, they don't need Mayfield to be a superstar. They just need him to be effective. And at least currently, it's an all or nothing prospect for Mayfield. Brilliant for a drive or a quarter and then ineffective for a half.

If there's a silver lining, it's the experience Mayfield is getting from this. Defenses respect him and are doing everything they can to slow him down because of what he's capable. Mayfield gets to be reminded of just how difficult it is to win a game in the NFL and what it takes to be great. When he finds his way through this, he's going to be better for it, but for the time being, the offense goes as he does.