5 Key Moments: Baker Mayfield provides the jolt Browns needed in big 2nd half

1. Neither team had much momentum in the early goings-on thanks to some stout defensive play and stagnant offense. A blocked punt changed that in the favor of the Jets. With a little more than 4 minutes to play in the first quarter, Jets linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis burst through the line and got his hands on Britton Colquitt’s punt. It wasn’t a clean block, but it did the job, giving the Jets the ball at Cleveland’s 28-yard line. A key third-and-11 conversion got the Jets inside the red zone. Isaiah Crowell finished it off with a 7-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter. The Jets got back in the end zone on the very next possession, moving 63 yards on 10 plays and finding the end zone once again with a short Crowell run. It was 14-0, and the Jets had all of the momentum. 2. Rookie Baker Mayfield came out firing in his NFL debut. Inserted into the lineup after a concussion sidelined veteran starter Tyrod Taylor, Mayfield led the Browns on a two-minute drill at the end of the second quarter that resulted in the team’s first points of the game. Mayfield fired a 14-yard pass to Jarvis Landry on the first play and hit tight end David Njoku for 17 yards on the next. His 16-yard pass to Landry on second-and-long got the Browns inside field goal range. Greg Joseph, who signed with the Browns on Monday, hit a curveball through the uprights from 45 yards to make the score 14-3 at the half. 3. An improbable catch and an improbable play call got the Browns right back in the game late in the third quarter. Trailing 14-6, the Browns took possession at their own 31 and went to work with a methodical march down the field. Facing a second-and-7 at the Jets’ 30, Mayfield looked down the seam and found Landry, who caught the ball over top of safety Doug Middleton and held on as he was driven to the ground. The Browns scored one play later on a Carlos Hyde touchdown run to put themselves within 2.After offsetting penalties gave Cleveland a second chance at a two-point conversion, the Browns went deep into the playbook to catch the Jets off guard. Duke Johnson took a direct snap and flipped it to Landry. The wide receiver threw it to a wide-open Mayfield in the corner of the end zone to tie the score. 4. Trailing 17-14 with 8:56 to play, Mayfield was at his absolute best on a drive that put the Browns ahead for good. His first pass was on the money but dropped by Antonio Callaway. The Browns promptly rebounded on the next play, when Hyde gained 10 yards on a run up the gut, and Mayfield kept the chains moving with two big throws on third downs. The second came on third-and-10, when he hit Callaway for a first down that put Cleveland at the Jets’ 16. Hyde followed with a touchdown run on the next play, but a Landry block-in-the-back penalty nullified it. Just a few plays later, though, the Browns were at the 1-yard line, and Hyde would find redemption on third-and-goal, when he punched it in for his second score. Now, the Browns just had to hold on with 2 minutes to play. 5. The Browns had come oh so close to intercepting rookie quarterback Sam Darnold throughout the game but had nothing to show for it. It took two picks to close out the win. Linebacker Joe Schobert got the first, stepping in front of Jermaine Kearse to give the ball back to Cleveland with 1:27 to play. It didn’t clinch the victory for the Browns, but it made it feel as real as it ever had. The final nail was delivered by Terrance Mitchell, who snagged a Darnold heave as the seconds ticked away on New York’s last chance. One Victory Formation later, and the Browns left FirstEnergy Stadium a winner for the first time since Christmas Eve 2016.