Bengals won’t have to face Browns QB Baker Mayfield in season finale

The Cincinnati Bengals won’t have to deal with Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield in Week 18.

Mayfield, playing with a labrum injury, has opted to undergo surgery as soon as possible in order to start focusing on next season ahead of his team’s final game. His Browns were eliminated before Monday night’s loss to Pittsburgh.

It’s not as small of news as it sounds. Mayfield went 16-of-38 with just 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns and picks during the loss to Pittsburgh, averaging just 4.9 yards per attempt (Big Ben somehow averaged a historical 2.7 yards over 46 attempts, by the way).

But Mayfield always seemed to pull his best out against the Bengals, including a 41-16 Browns win earlier this season in which his 14 completions went for 218 yards and two scores.

It’s hard to say if this influences what the Bengals will do with their starters now that they have the playoffs secured. They can still make headway in the playoff seeding. But key starters just went to the reserve/COVID-19 list, too.

Either way, the Browns won’t have a starting quarterback as they look to complete the season sweep.