CLEVELAND — You knew it was coming.
After the Cleveland Browns were handed a humiliating 31-3 pasting by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, members of the national media took turns taking shots at the team and quarterback Baker Mayfield on Tuesday.
Here’s a rundown of what we saw:
The guy who has had the biggest beef with Baker Mayfield since the Browns drafted him first overall in 2018 couldn’t help but be giddy after Mayfield’s poor performance against San Francisco. Colin Cowherd’s main focus was on the fact that Baker made 49er defensive back Richard Sherman unhappy because of a perceived slight during the pregame coin toss.
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The snub, which frankly has turned out to be much ado about nothing, led Cowherd to have this rant about Baker:
“Police video. Leading the NFL in picks. Taunting NFL players. What is that? Bad judgment. Stop with the 29 commercials and ‘I feel dangerous’,” Cowherd said on his radio show.
Marcus Spears, the former NFL defensive end, turned ESPN NFL analyst, unloaded on Baker as well. “The more you talk, the more they remember. And the worst thing you can do is talk about other players,” he said. Every player that plays against the Cleveland Browns and Baker Mayfield has extra incentive to make them look terrible.”
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“Baker Mayfield was awful again. Baker completed 8 passes, had a passer rating of 13. If you just spike the ball on every play you get a passer rating of 39,” said Nick Wright on FS1’s First Things First.
There was less trolling and more analysis on the Dan Patrick Show. “It feels like he (Mayfield) is holding on to the ball too long,” Patrick said. “They (49ers) went after him and made him look pedestrian.”
The NFL Network’s Mike Silver talked with Richard Sherman about the snub and the discussion mushroomed into other situations when Mayfield said or did something controversial. “He talked about Mayfield’s comment about Daniel Jones being drafted so high, about Duke Johnson being unhappy with his role in Cleveland, his antics toward Hue Jackson after he ended up on the Bengals sideline,” Silver related. “This guy needs to grow up, he does not respect the game,” Sherman told Silver regarding Mayfield.
Keep in mind this fact, pointed out by Pro Football Talk Managing Editor Michael David Smith:
And here’s my favorite from the NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger:
Granted, I don’t like seeing Baker Mayfield getting manhandled by any defensive line. But I do appreciate Baldy’s enthusiasm as he breaks down the “Shark Attack” against Mayfield.
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