Chat-World » CLEVELAND (AP) — The coach changed. Everything else

with the Cleveland Browns stayed the same.Unable to slow Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City’s thrill-a-minute offense http://www.brownsfanshop.com/Sione-Takitaki-Jersey , the Browns were soundly beaten — and beaten up — in a 37-21 loss on Sunday in Cleveland’s first game under interim coach Gregg Williams.Mahomes threw two touchdown passes to Cleveland native Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt, another local kid who drove past FirstEnergy Stadium almost every day, scored three TDs as the Chiefs (8-1) overpowered the banged-up Browns (2-6-1) while sending them to their fourth straight loss.It doesn’t figure to get better anytime soon for Cleveland, which had three more defensive starters get injured.The pain isn’t going away.“We have to keep going — next man up,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “We have to do the best with what we have.”The loss ended another tumultuous few days for the Browns, whose promising 2-2-1 start has dissolved into more disarray.Still, rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield managed to extract some positives. He passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns.“Offensively, I think there was a lot more good in this game than we had in the past,” said Mayfield, who twice connected with running back Duke Johnson on scores. “There is a lot to build on, but there is obviously so much more room for improvement. When you are playing a team like that, you have to stay in the game.“You have to give yourself chances. You have to do the little things right. You have to chip away, take time off of the clock just because of the offense that they have. There was a lot of good on offense, but we just have to keep getting better.”Cleveland’s hopes of staying with the Chiefs took a major hit when defensive backs Damarious Randall (groin), E.J. Gaines (concussion) and Denzel Ward (hip) were sidelined by injuries. Randall was scratched before the kickoff, and after Gaines and Ward went down in the first quarter, linebacker Christian Kirksey (hamstring) got hurt.Stopping the Chiefs with a full roster is tough.Short-handed, it’s impossible.The Browns were already missing Pro Bowl linebacker Joe Schobert, who sat out his third game in a row with a hamstring injury.“The biggest thing that really affected us was that we lost two of our starting corners in the first drive,” cornerback T.J. Carrie said. “That definitely put us in a different situation. We practice with those guys throughout the week, and when those guys go down, it changes the game plan. They are a high-powered offense Greedy Williams Jersey , and I don’t think we did a good job at all stopping their momentum.”The injuries put more pressure on Williams, who did not relinquish his duties as defensive coordinator after being asked to replace Hue Jackson, who was fired on Monday along with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.The Browns may have been outmanned by the more talented Chiefs, but Williams liked how his players fought through a week full of adversity.“I never saw any flinch,” he said. “Never saw a flinch today. Never saw body language poor today. You have to build on that. This is the National Football League. There are no excuses. You have to continue to get better. You have to. We all have to.”Williams set an early tone for his shell-shocked team with a fourth-down gamble on Cleveland’s first possession. The Browns converted then, but Williams’ choice to go for a 2-point conversion in the second quarter resulted in the Browns chasing points all afternoon.Cleveland went 0 for 3 on conversion tries.Following the game, Mayfield and Mahomes met at mid-field and shared a hug and some words of encouragement. They’ve been friends for years, college rivals and part of the NFL’s next wave of young quarterbacks.While Mahomes appears to have it all — more talented teammates, a stable franchise — right now, Mayfield doesn’t think the Browns have to try to replicate Kansas City’s offense.“What we do is perfectly fine,” he said. “We just have to be better at it. They have guys who are making their plays. Their quarterback is putting it in the right spot. He is giving them a chance to win. We just have to be better. We are not going to abandon ship with what we are doing and try to do the Chiefs offense. We just have to trust our guys, trust our playmakers and do our job.” BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Somewhat lost and overlooked amid Baker Mayfield’s public spat with former Browns coach Hue Jackson is that the rookie’s playing at an elite level.This quarterback isn’t all talk.Mayfield had a November to remember, completing 74 percent of his passes (65 of 88) while leading the Browns (4-6-1) to two wins and the edge of serious playoff possibilities.The No. 1 overall pick has thrown nine touchdown passes and just one interception in his past three games while earning a 129.5 rating — second only to New Orleans star Drew Brees.Nothing fake about those numbers.Mayfield, who threw a season-high four TD passes last week — is the first rookie in NFL history to record ratings of 140-plus in consecutive games, and his efforts earned him rookie of the month honors.Rookie of the year may be next.It’s not a coincidence that Mayfield’s recent rise came after Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were fired. With running backs coach Freddie Kitchens taking over for Haley and calling plays, Cleveland’s offense has played with a faster tempo, has been more versatile and efficient.Mayfield is getting rid of the ball much quicker, spreading it around to his playmakers and making better decisions.It would be easy to surmise Jackson was holding him back, but Mayfield doesn’t think that’s the case.“No,” Mayfield said. “I mean, obviously the easiest answer would be to look on that and say https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Howard-Wilson-Jersey , ‘Yeah, I’ve played a lot better since then.’ But that’s not it. It’s just been about me doing my job and doing it at a high level. So it’s not about that. I wouldn’t blame that at all.”Still, it’s worth considering where the Browns would be if Mayfield had begun the season as the starter and not Tyrod Taylor’s backup.But that’s irrelevant now as Mayfield has the Browns winning — they snapped a 25-game road losing streak last week at Cincinnati — and playing in meaningful December games, starting with Sunday’s matchup in Houston against the Texans, who have won eight in a row.With his impressive career start, Mayfield has converted numerous doubters who thought he was either too small or too smug to succeed.Texans star Deshaun Watson isn’t surprised by anything Mayfield has done. Watson and Mayfield are friends, their bond beginning as college rivals and strengthened as offseason workout partners.Watson has been around Mayfield long enough to see how players, teams and cities gravitate toward the No. 1 overall draft pick.“I saw that when he was playing at Texas Tech and saw it at Oklahoma,” Watson said. “That is what drew me closer to him, want to be around him and get to know him a little better because I can feed off of that energy that he gives off. Everyone wants to play with him. The guy is a playmaker.“He is playing very well. That is the reason why they are having a lot of success because he is leading that team, he is leading that organization and he is going to have a bright future, a bright career, win a lot of games, win championships and do a lot of things for himself and that organization.”Mayfield might be in his first season, but Kitchens said Cleveland’s staff isn’t modifying any aspect of the game plan because of his inexperience.No time for that.“There is not babying him into anything,” Kitchens said. “He is doing a good job. He works hard during the course of the week. He puts time in after hours and before hours. He is doing a good job of staying focused on the task at hand inside of one play, inside of one read, inside of one practice and one game. That is how you continue to progress. It is not overwhelming him or anything like that. It is just continuing his progress on a play-by-play basis.”NOTES: Kitchens joined the chorus of Mayfield supporters who had no problem with the QB objecting to Jackson taking a job with Cincinnati or calling his former coach “fake.” day. Haley said Mayfield had every right to speak his mind. “If he said it, that’s what he feels,” Kitchens said. “And I’m standing behind Baker Mayfield. … Suddenly it’s big news if we don’t want to turn it into a Kumbaya after the game and turn it into fist bumps and hugs. I don’t think Baker disrespected anybody in what he said. He spoke what he felt.”