Late in the fourth quarter is a time when the Cleveland Browns ordinarily would be looking to big things from Baker Mayfield. Instead, they replaced him late in a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday.
When the Browns got the ball back with just over five minutes left in the game, backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert entered the game for his first action of the season. He went 0/1 and the Browns went 3-and-out on the possession.
Replacing Mayfield made plenty of sense at that point. The 2018 No. 1 pick was 8/22 for 100 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. One of the interceptions came off a drop by Antonio Callaway at the goal line that should have been a TD.
There was no need to keep putting Mayfield out there. The 49ers had four sacks and eight quarterback hits and took advantage of a bad Browns offensive line that has been one of the worst in the league.
Cleveland lost 31-3 and is now 2-3. San Francisco remains undefeated at 4-0.
