Baker Mayfield destroyed the Bengals and taunted Hue Jackson once again

After Sunday’s 28-16 win over the Bengals, two of Baker Mayfield’s best performances this season have now come against his former coach Hue Jackson and Cincinnati.

Mayfield went 27-of-37 for 284 yards, and three touchdowns on the afternoon. There was also, most notably, one big stare.

At one point in the second half, CBS cameras caught Mayfield locked in on Jackson as he made his way up the sideline after a 66-yard gain to David Njoku:

That wasn’t a quick glance, either. That’s a Big Shade stare down from the rook. One that he claims he had no idea about, via ESPN:

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Mayfield said.

Serious?

”Yeah,” the rookie said.

Mayfield has claimed beef with Jackson previously because Jackson joined a division rival after getting fired by the Browns in Week 8.

After the teams’ Week 12 meeting, Mayfield told reporters of his quick handshake with Jackson after the game, “Didn’t feel like talking to him. He was here trying to tell us to play for him. Then he goes to a team we play twice a year. That’s how I feel. We have people we believe in calling the plays now.”

That’s ... not the best reason to be upset with somebody. Jackson was fired, and understandably took other work. It would be an entirely different discussion if Jackson was all “lol going to just go from our team to one of our rivals!” during the middle of the season, and on his own.

Either way, #PettySZN knows no limits, so we’re going to be here for Petty Baker regardless.

The Browns put on more of a dominating performance in that Week 12 matchup. Mayfield completed 19 of his 26 passes for four touchdowns in a 35-20 final where the Browns led 28-0 at one point.

The most ridiculous outcome from this “rivalry” would be both guys sticking it out for the duration of Mayfield’s career. In part because it’s entertaining, and the other part being that it’s kind of silly.

Let’s get to the other things from Week 16.

Blake Bortles really thought he was having some kind of inspirational Dreamworks football movie moment when he got put in to replace Cody Kessler, his replacement:

I think Bortles imagined it would go something like this:

BORTLES: [runs up to the huddle, looks everybody in the eyes player by player] Let’s go boys. I’m back.”

LEONARD FOURNETTE: [softly grins, looks to his left and right] “Let’s do this, y’all.”

THE LINEMEN: [start slapping the shit out of each other on the helmet, pumped up] “WOOO LET’S GO BOYSSSSS!!!”

BORTLES: “OK, [the playcall] BREAK!”

The Jaguars won 17-7, taking the lead after Bortles entered the game. But they don’t want you back, pleighboi.

The Steelers’ season was on the line against the Saints, and Mike Tomlin dialed up the worst fake punt of the NFL season up 28-24 and his defense playing well.

The best part was Roosevelt Nix celebrating afterward, thinking he had gotten enough yards for the first down:

The fake was so bad, it made everybody recall Georgia’s Somehow Even More Atrocious fake punt call in the SEC Championship against Alabama just a few weeks ago. Like Georgia, the Steelers lost too. They ended up losing to the Saints 31-28 after a tragic JuJu Smith-Schuster fumble in the final minute.

The entire Nix sequence should just play on a loop inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

The best hit of the NFL season happened, thanks to Atlanta Falcons punter Matt Bosher. He delivered the blow to Kenjon Barner, who now has to retire from football:

The play isn’t incredibly surprising if you’ve ever watched a Falcons game where Bosher is getting good work in. He’s not afraid of contact, which was as evident as ever today.

Bosher said of his flex after the game, “I went to Miami. It’s in me, I guess.”

Remember when Jameis Winston stuck his fingers in his mouth to motivate the Bucs last year by saying they were going to “eat a W” and win a game? I mean, of course you do, because how could you forget that scene.

On Sunday, when the Cowboys beat the Bucs and clinched a playoff berth, Antwaun Woods ate a W in front of Winston:

Just sensational troll work by the lineman.

I’m sorry I made the same joke as everybody else did in some capacity, but ‘Tis The Season.

The Vikings were faced with a third-and-2 from the Lions’ 45-yard line, where Kirk Cousins scraped the ceiling with a Hail Mary that Kyle Rudolph came down with:

The best part about that play, is that Rudolph just walked away from the scene of the crime so easily. Usually in those situations everybody hits the deck, whether or not the ball was actually caught or not.

The Vikings never lost the lead after the Hail Mary, and won 27-9.

The Browns had an easy time with the in-state rival Bengals on Sunday. But Jarvis Landry’s deep pass to Breshad Perriman is one of the more improbable plays in Browns history:

Perriman has pretty much been a bust since he was drafted No. 26 overall in 2016. So for him to make his way to the Browns, and have his first touchdown reception come from the hands of Jarvis Landry of all people is amazing.

The Browns’ fortune may slowly but surely be changing. They’re now 7-7-1 on the season, and have a chance to finish above .500. Wild, I know.

The Texans did their best to beat the Eagles on Sunday, but Nick Foles was able to push the Eagles onward in a 32-30 win.

Prior to the game-winning drive, Deshaun Watson showed why we all fell in love with his game (at the pro level) last year. A few Eagles defenders ripped at Watson, who continued to spin out of the tackles gracefully before firing a pass to Jordan Aikens for the first down:

Not a lot of quarterbacks are making that play in the NFL. Watson finished the drive with a perfect touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to give the Texans a 30-29 lead:

None of this ended up mattering since the Eagles won the game, but Watson further proved that the Texans are a team others won’t want to see in the postseason.

Larry Fitzgerald’s career is winding down, and Sunday’s game against the Rams could be his last in Arizona. If it was, he ended it well by throwing the smoothest touchdown pass of the day to David Johnson:

At one point during the game, Fitzgerald was the Cardinals leading passer, Josh Rosen the leading rusher, and Johnson the leading receiver.

But the Rams won 31-9, because there was just no way the Cardinals were going to beat the Rams in 2018.

Imagine being the long snapper who delivers the football that drills you in your own ass:

And now...

This might be the funniest thing to happen during the NFL season, and it was worth the wait.

After the Titans beat Washington on Saturday, Josh Norman got Big Mad at Taylor Lewan, and threw his helmet at him. Lewan then did a version of Norman’s signature bow and arrow celebration, with a twist:

Lewan 1) stuck his middle finger out instead of holding out the bow and 2) used his index and thumb to portray the smallest of arrows going in Norman’s direction that triggered a bigger reaction:

Lewan reportedly told Norman to “get the fuck out of his stadium” which set Norman off. Now, as bad as Lewan made Norman look, he sounds like an overly confident pickup basketball player at your local gym who just made the last shot of a game for saying that. It’s kind of corny.

The exchange is incredibly petty, and the best NFL gift we could have asked for.

See y’all next week.