The Carolina Panthers could have gone 0-3, if not for their victory over the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints are struggling offensively with Jameis Winston as their quarterback.
Therefore, the Panthers were slightly better at executing their plays against their division rivals.
Otherwise, they would have been no match to the Saints’ high-powered offense with Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Jarvis Landry.
Even in that game, Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield completed less than 50 percent of his passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.
His numbers could have been worse if not for his 67-yard touchdown pass to Laviska Shenault Jr.
Those statistics add fire to the argument that Mayfield is more of a concern than a solution.
Footballguys’ Dave Kluge paints a grim picture about the former number one overall pick.
Kluge tweeted, “Kyle Allen and Cam Newton supported Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore as fantasy weapons. Baker Mayfield is not. Meanwhile, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, and David Njoku are looking great in Cleveland. Odell Beckham bounced back last year with the Rams. Maybe Baker is the problem.”
The Browns are at 2-1 without Mayfield, including a Week 1 victory over Carolina.
They could have been 3-0 if not for their meltdown against the New York Jets in Week 2.
Meanwhile, Beckham remains a top free agent even if he is still recovering from an ACL injury.
The Rams helped raise his game by becoming a solid contributor throughout their Super Bowl run last season.
Mayfield Not Cut As A Starter?
To his credit, he did help the Browns break a playoff drought that nearly went two decades.
He also gave Cleveland a playoff victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But Beckham wanting out sheds light on Mayfield’s limitations.
Now that he is in Carolina, Moore is yet to have a 100-yard game.
He is danger of going under 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career.
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