The postseason doesn’t officially get underway until next week. But when it comes to the Cleveland Browns, they may as well start now.
The Browns can earn a playoff berth for the first time in 18 years with a victory on Sunday over the Pittsburgh Steelers. They can also wind up at home for an 18th straight year if they lose and other results go against them as well.
For Baker Mayfield and the Browns, it’s more straightforward to just treat the final week of the regular season as the first week of the playoffs.
“The mentality here is we’re in our playoffs, just one week early. It’s win or go home,” Mayfield said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “That’s the mentality for our guys. We have the talent. We have the scheme. We just have to go out there and execute it and do our jobs. And when we’ve had success this year, that’s been the case.
“Everybody knows it’s win or go home. There’s no need to stress it anymore. There’s no need to add any pressure. It’s just about us going and doing our job.”
The Browns would have clinched a playoff spot already had they beaten the New York Jets on Sunday. Coupled with the Steelers comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Browns would have secured a playoff spot. However, a handful of players missing — including four wide receivers — due to COVID-19 served as a big setback in the 23-16 loss to the Jets.
That loss has made the postseason far from a guaranteed thing for Cleveland.
COVID-19 issues forced the closure of the team’s facility for a while on Wednesday before the team got the go ahead to practice in the evening. In their favor is the fact that the Steelers will start Mason Rudolph and play some backups to give some key starters a breather ahead of the playoffs.
Regardless of the circumstances, Mayfield says he’s ready for the challenge ahead to get the Browns into the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
“I’ve had my back against the wall many a times in my life,” Mayfield said. “I think I handle that type of stuff correctly.
“These are the moments you ask for. When you’re little, you dream of playing in the games where it comes down to you have the ball in your hands and you want to take care of business.”
Baker Mayfield: Playoffs start now for Browns originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
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