Baker Mayfield started the game hot. Red hot. And it felt like it was going to be another case of a mobile, strong-armed quarterback having his way with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense like Patrick Mahomes this year or Carson Wentz his rookie season. On his first three drives Sunday afternoon, Mayfield completed 8 of 11 passes and led two scoring drives. They bitterly ended in field goals but points are points for an offense struggling to look cohesive over the last month.
Then everything changed. Eliminate the garbage time touchdown drive that padded his numbers, he went 7 for 18 the rest of the day, averaged five yards per completion, and had a lowly 23.