The Cleveland Browns acquired Odell Beckham Jr. to give their franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield, a legitimate No. 1 receiver. Unfortunately for the Browns, that connection simply has not materialized.
Why not?
“I have no earthly idea, and I’m embarrassed to say that because I’m supposed to be an analyst; I’m supposed to know these things,” NFL on CBS analyst Charles Davis said on The DA Show. “It doesn’t make sense on paper. It doesn’t make sense intellectually. These are two young guys who both want to win fiercely, who both can play at a really high level. You would think it would work.”
Beckham had three catches for 22 yards in Cleveland’s 38-6 loss to Baltimore on Sunday. It was the second-lowest output of OBJ’s 76-game career, despite finishing with 10 targets.
“They didn’t target him early,” Davis said. “I’m always leery about a team that has Odell Beckham on it that doesn’t get him involved early. You’ve to keep him locked in with you because if you don’t get him going early – and then it doesn’t get going – we saw traces of that in this ballgame. You saw some body language.”
Mayfield finished 21-of-39 for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception,
“Baker, he wasn’t scintillating,” Davis said. “I thought there were a lot of contested throws downfield, too. Guys aren’t separating downfield. [David] Njoku made a great catch, and then he gets hurt. Jarvis Landry looked good coming back off the hip [injury]. They’ve ran the ball a little bit with authority. But the key play was 3rd-and-2 near the end of the first half. Odell Beckham [was] on a pivot route, a whip route, he’s open, Baker actually put it on him – and Odell dropped it.”
Then kicker Austin Seibert missed a field goal. Then the Ravens went 69 yards in 35 seconds to make it 24-6 before halftime. That was all she wrote.
“They didn’t make the key plays at key times,” Davis said of the Browns. “I just don’t understand how guys can be as similar as Baker and Odell Beckham are [yet] aren’t as in sync as you think that they would be.”