Baker Mayfield leads Browns to 21-17 win over Jets on ‘Thursday Night Football’

Baker Mayfield led the Cleveland Browns on a late comeback to best the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football, 21-17, snapping a long, long streak of no wins for the Browns.

Tyrod Taylor started the game for the Browns, but after starting 4-for-14 for 19 yards (plus 22 yards rushing), he went down with a head injury. He was then ruled out with a concussion, and Mayfield made his debut.

And it was a good debut. Mayfield completed 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, plus he caught a two-point conversion.

In the third quarter, Mayfield led the Browns on a touchdown drive (capped off by a Carlos Hyde rushing touchdown — Hyde, by the way, was expecting the birth of his child before Thursday’s game), and then he caught the two-point conversion off of some trickery. Jarvis Landry threw the pass after a direct snap to a running back was dished to him.

The Jets would go on to kick a field goal for the lead back, but the Browns had a lengthy touchdown drive that gave them a four-point lead with 2:04 to go in the game. Mayfield was great on the drive, with a couple beautiful passes helped along by some good runs from Hyde. Hyde finished the game with 98 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Browns.

Below is the live blog from Thursday evening, in reverse order.

Browns beat Jets, 21-17, FINAL: Short run by Hyde to start, and the Jets take a timeout. No gain by Hyde on the next run, and another timeout. Hyde picks up 5 yards on 3rd down, but he’s short by a couple yards. The Browns will punt with 1:05 remaining. Colquitt punts it and it’s downed at the Jets 6-yard line. Darnold hits Pryor for a nice gain of 25 yards. Darnold throws incomplete on the next play, but it looks like his knee was down, so they’re going to take a look at it. His knee was down, so it’s a sack for a loss of 3 yards. Darnold goes deep on 2nd down, but he’s picked by Mitchell and that’ll end this one!

Browns lead Jets, 21-17, at 1:21 of 4th quarter: The Jets take over with 2:04 remaining. Darnold’s pass to Enunwa is incomplete, and nearly picked. Darnold hits Anderson for a 5-yard gain, but a false start by the Jets sets them back. On 3rd-and-10, Darnold throws the ball away for some reason, and it’s a fourth down. With three timeouts, it looks like the Jets are going for it. Darnold finds Kearse for a 12-yard gain to extend the drive. But Darnold is picked by Schobert on the next play, and the Browns take over!

Browns lead Jets, 21-17, at 2:04 of 4th quarter: Mayfield goes deep right away, but Callaway drops the pass. It was a good route, a good throw, but he just didn’t hang onto it. On second down, Hyde picks up a 10-yard gain on the ground. Then Landry catches a 4-yard pass. A short run for Hyde sets up a third down, and Mayfield hits Johnson for a short gain and a first down. He fumbles, but Higgins manages to recover it. Mayfield then hits Higgins for 19 yards, but his next pass to Landry is dropped. Callaway catches a 10-yard pass, and then Hyde runs in a touchdown! But it’s called back due to an illegal block in the back on Landry. Mayfield makes up most of the penalty distance with a pass to Landry, and it’s a 2nd-and-1. Chubb picks up the first down at the 1-yard line! They give it to Hyde, but he can’t get the touchdown. They try a toss to Landry, but he doesn’t get it, setting up a 3rd-and-goal. This time Hyde gets it, and the Browns lead!

Jets lead Browns, 17-14, at 8:58 of 4th quarter: Before the end of the third, Powell picked up 9 yards on a run. At 2nd-and-1 in the fourth now, Powell breaks a big one for 21 yards on the ground. He goes for no gain on first down, and then Darnold throws another incomplete pass. On a 3rd-and-10, Darnold ha a quick pass to Kearse, and they get the first down. They get to 3rd-and-7, and convert it when Darnold hits Enunwa for an 11-yard gain. But facing a 3rd-and-12, Kearse can only pick up 9 yards, so it’s a field goal attempt for the Jets. The 28-yard attempt is good and the Jets have the lead again!

Jets, Browns tied at 14-14 at end of 3rd quarter: The Jets take over from their own 10-yard line. Darnold finds Tomlinson for a 14-yard pickup, and then Crowell goes for 3 yards on first down. But Darnold throws incomplete twice to force a New York punt. The Browns will take over at their own 31-yard line. They wind up with a 3rd-and-1, but Mayfield finds Landry for a 16-yard gain. Then he finds Landry again, over the top, a beautiful catch for 29 yards down to the Jets 1-yard line. They run it with Hyde, and he gets the touchdown. They trail by two, and will go for the two-point conversion. Mayfield stares down Callaway, and he’s pressured as a result. There are offsetting penalties, though, and the Browns get another shot at it. Wow! They get it! It’s a fake, then another fake, and Landry throws it to Mayfield in the end zone to tie it up!

Jets lead Browns, 14-6 at 5:21 of 3rd quarter: The Browns pick up a quick first down after a couple Hyde runs. He finds Njoku for 19 yards, but the drive eventually stalls on a 3rd-and-9, forcing a punt. The Jets take back over, and after two false start penalties, Darnold tries to find Anderson for a 9-yard gain — but Denzel Ward takes the ball right from him, to the Jets 8-yard line, giving Mayfield and the Browns a lovely scoring opportunity! They can’t punch it in after a couple incomplete passes, but the field goal is good.

Jets lead Browns, 14-3, at 12:25 of 3rd quarter: Taylor is officially out with a concussion, so it will be the Baker Mayfield show from here on out, though the Jets receive the second-half kickoff. Darnold hits Crowell for a quick 7-yard pickup, and then he’s blown up for a loss on second down. On third down, Darnold hits him for a 10-yard reception for a new set of downs. Powell loses a yard on a run, and Burgess was injured on the play for Cleveland. The second down pass is out of bounds, setting up a 3rd-and-11 from their own 39-yard line. And he overthrows Kearse on third down, setting up a punt. A promising drive comes to an end.

Jets lead Browns, 14-3, at end of 2nd quarter: The Jets take over on their own 9-yard line, and then lose 2 yards on a run. There’s another holding penalty, but the Browns decline as it was a loss of 2 yards to begin with and they’d rather have the loss of down. Jets run it again, but don’t get close, and will punt after the Cleveland timeout. Taylor is being checked on for some kind of issue in the medical tent, so Cleveland is coming out with Baker Mayfield at quarterback. On first down, Mayfield finds Landry for a 14-yard gain with 90 seconds to go. He then finds Njoku for another first down. There’s a fumble, but the Browns scoop it up. It’s a loss of 8 yards, however. The Browns don’t get to the end zone, but they do set up a field goal attempt, which Joseph kicks through from 23 yards out. The Jets get the ball back and a bad Browns penalty, but they couldn’t turn it into points.

Jets lead Browns, 14-0, at 2:44 of 2nd quarter: An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Jets gave the Browns a fresh set of downs when they were facing a 3rd-and-10. But on the next 2nd-and-10, Tretter is called for offensive holding, and Johnson is called for defensive holding, which are offsetting and result in no play. Taylor finds Hyde for a 5-yard gain, then he picks up 11 yards on the ground. Johnson is in now, and he picks up 8 yards on first down, followed by a Cleveland timeout. The Browns go for a play action and Taylor’s pass is way out of bounds, totally off target. He is called for intentional grounding as a result. They’re called for holding, but it’s declined as Taylor was sacked for a loss of 16 yards, taking them out of field goal range. They punt it away.

Jets lead Browns 14-0 at 07:59 of 2nd quarter: So it’s Jets ball, and Powell goes 14 yards for a first down. Then he picks up 8 yards, and the Jets take a timeout. Another 9 yards for Powell, then 8 yards for Crowell. Crowell loses a couple on the next one, but on a 3rd-and-4, Darnols finds Enunwa for a 16-yard gain to the Cleveland 11-yard line. A toss to Crowell gets them to the 5-yard line. Then they’re at the 2-yard line, and they have a 3rd-and-short. Crowell gets it again, and he gets the touchdown! Two-score lead for the Jets now.

Jets lead Browns 7-0 in at 13:31 of 2nd quarter: After a lucky break, the Jets are in great position to score here. And they do, on the first play of the second quarter, with Crowell running in a 7-yard touchdown for the first points of the game. The extra point is good! And if you blinked, you also missed the next Browns drive, which was over quite quickly as another 3-and-out.

Browns, Jets tied at 0 at the end of the 1st quarter: A quick 22-yard run by Carlos Hyde sets the Browns up nicely. But they can’t convert a 3rd-and-2 due to a sack, and then the punt is blocked! Jets recover and get the ball on the Cleveland 28-yard line! Darnold throws incomplete, then Crowell loses a yard on a run. On 3rd-and-11, the Jets don’t take the safe option, with Darnold hitting Enunwa short. Enunwa picks up 16 yards, giving the Jets another set of downs in the red zone. And the first quarter comes to an end. Also: there’s apparently an opossum in the audience, because of course.

Browns, Jets tied at 0 with 4:32 left in 1st quarter: It’s another 3-and-out for the Browns, and the Jets take over on their own 11-yard line. So far, the Jets can’t start out in good field position, while the Browns are unable to capitalize. Darnold throws incomplete, then finds Enunwa for a 14-yard gain and a first down. He then goes incomplete to Pryor, and Powell runs for no gain, setting up a 3rd-and-long. The Jets go for a pass, but Darnold is sacked when stepping up in the pocket. Garrett is the one who gets to him!

Browns, Jets tied at 0 with 9:11 left in 1st quarter: Following the Cleveland 3-and-out to start the game, the Jets responded in kind with one of their own. The Browns went on to pick up a first down, but couldn’t convert their second third-down attempt, giving the Jets the ball at their own 1-yard line. Unsurprisingly, it’s a quick 3-and-out there, too. This one is exciting!

Browns, Jets tied at 0 with 14:05 left in 1st quarter: The Jets won the toss, and defer, so Cleveland will field the opening kickoff. It goes out the back of the end zone, so Cleveland will start on their own 25-yard line. Taylor throws incomplete on first down, and then picks up just 2 yards on the ground. It’s an early third down, but Taylor can’t find Calloway for the first down deep. A quick 3-and-out for the Browns.

After nearly starting their season with an 0-0-2 record, the Cleveland Browns will try for their first win of the season when they host the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football. The game is set for 8:20 p.m. ET from FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, broadcast by NFL Network (live streaming via FuboTV, NFL, Yahoo Sports).

The Browns tied in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, then fell just short of making it to overtime against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. The Jets are 1-1 after a dominant season-opening road win over the Detroit Lions (48-17) and a close loss to the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 2.

Sam Darnold has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 532 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions in his young NFL career. He’s been assisted by 211 yards of rushing by the Jets as a team.

Below is all you need to know to follow the action.

Of the seven experts picking Week 3 games for SB Nation, four of them think the Browns will get their first win in a long, long time. The other three are picking the Jets, while the coin flip landed on Jets. The OddsShark computer is going with the majority and picking Cleveland.