Worst start in franchise history leads to release of Mayfield


After five straight victories over the Nosebleeds the streak is over.

The 18.6 point loss while being favored by 21 dealt a deep blow to the franchise, sending them reeling to their worst start through three games in franchise history, 1-2.  The 131.2 PA/g the Horsemen have suffered through is the 2nd most in league history, while the 107.8 PPG were nearly 15 fewer than the 2019 team. Underperformance has been rampant throughout the roster, but in no place has it stood out more than the quarterback position.

Baker Mayfield, through 3 games, is the 24th ranked quarterback with 13.3 points per game. He was drafted with the hopes of a Mahomes-like ceiling, as offensive weapons on the Browns seemed like they were everywhere. Regardless of their talent, though, Baker couldn’t seem to find them. “While we’re certain Baker is a talented kid, he just hasn’t been a good fit for the winning culture we’ve been building here for the last 8 years,” said offensive coordinator, Old Man Turtle. The team released Mayfield this morning, restocking the quarterback position with promising and/or flash-in-the-pan rookie Daniel “Danny Dimes” Jones and veteran, Matt Stafford.

That being said, week 3 was a complete disaster – and not because of historic performances from the team on the other sideline, but because of the historic implosion by the Electric Horsemen.

Julio Jones continues to be the rock of the team, turning in elite performances in back to back weeks. Antonio Brown’s sudden retirement after release by the Patriots last week immediately weakened what was the strongest receiving core in the league. Royce Freeman would earn the start, moving Gurley to flex in place of Brown where neither would perform extraordinarily. Todd Gurley, in particular, would disappoint. After destroying the league for 2 years, the Rams completely removed running back screen plays from their playbook – and thus, Todd Gurley’s massive value seems to be hitting rock bottom. His 4.3 points were the 2nd least points scored in hist time with the Horsemen, the least coming nearly two years ago when he only reached 2 points in week 5 of 2017.

Michael Thomas, while still solid, is now limited by the injury to Drew Brees. All of the receivers around Ertz were hurt, giving the defense a chance to key in on him – and him alone. The Ravens would opt out of field goals and extra points in an effort to use analytics to keep up with the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving Justin Tucker on the bench. And, of course, Baker Mayfield would be simply horrendous. He has averaged the least points of any quarterback with 3 or more starts in franchise history.

And the Horsemen start the Battle of TC Jester in a hole.

This part of the schedule was supposed to be easy. The set up was there for a 4-0 start. But these Horsemen aren’t the dominant force they have been in years past. This fourth game was in the line to be the easiest – and it still is.

After a failed attempt to become an expansion team in 2018, the Pork Shanks got one more opportunity to join the league with the purchase of the Extreme Baby Throwers. So far, they haven’t been nearly as entertaining as the prior management, nor have they seemed to care nearly as much about the league – starting James White despite his absence due to the birth of a child. Their roster is about as ‘meh’ as their ownership. But somehow, with no playmakers to speak of, they have grinded their way to a 2-1 tie atop the Dainty Division with the Nosebleeds and Unpredictable. George Kittle, their only player of note, is on bye this week and the Bears defense has a strong chance at being their top scorer in week 4.


The Horsemen enter this game without Le’Veon Bell, who is on a much needed bye week so his quarterback can recover from mono and they can stop lining him up with a 3rd stringer. They will also be, once again, without Antonio Brown. He remains on the roster as management attempts to convince him to cancel his retirement and return to the game – but it seems like a longshot at this point.

The big story is the change at quarterback. Daniel Jones’ week 3 performance would have put the Horsemen over the Nosebleeds, changing the course of this season. They would spend $27 on him in waivers while no other team would even bid on him, making that chip on his shoulder that much larger after sitting on the bench behind Eli Manning for 2 weeks. The rest of the roster is fairly familiar this week, and hopefully not as disappoint as they have been thus far in the young season. Adrian Peterson, despite this being his second short stint with the Horsemen, will make his first start – and maybe his last… Oklahoma alums have short shelf lives with the Horses.

This is a get right game of massive proportions. The Horsemen are 24.2 point favorites, their largest spread in 2019. They have been favored in every game and have won the only game where they were single digit favorites. ESPN has the Horsemen with a 59% chance of victory while FantasyPros has them at 81.8%.

Yet another 2-3 week. Bumpy’s Berries came out of nowhere to crush 3rd and Unpredictable’s dreams of an undefeated season in week 3. If it weren’t for the massive drop by the Heavy Pistols down 46% from 65% to 19% – the Horsemen would be the biggest fallers of the week. Pork Shanks rocketed up the projected final standings with their unlikely victory over the Heavy Pistols despite starting an inactive running back +24% to 37% to earn biggest gainer. The Nosebleeds do not seem to have gained any respect despite their big rivalry victory over the Horsemen, rising only 9%.

  • Drunken Aces @ Straight Laced – Taking advantage of one of their last weeks with Ekeler as the solo back, claiming their second 3-1 start in 3 years.
  • Bumpy’s Berries @ Heavy Pistols – The Pistols made no attempt to acquire Barkley’s backup after his injury. It’s likely his loss will destroy their effort and they’ll be heading back to the end of the line.
  • Closet Hillbilly @ Nosebleeds – The Nosebleeds are in a prime spot for another massive upset here – getting the team in a position to make a run as Melvin Gordon’s return is imminent.
  • 3rd and Unpredictable @ Dangerous Angels – There is an undeniably massive talent gap here.

 

 

No Replies to "Worst start in franchise history leads to release of Mayfield"

    Got something to say?

    Some html is OK