Will the Cleveland Browns Ride the Baker Train to Super Bowl LIV?

By Bradley Kremer | September 8, 2019

It seems like everyone is rooting for the underdog Cleveland Browns to move onto the Super Bowl and win it all. Why is that? Well, the Browns struggled through their 2016 and 2017 season winning a whopping one game out of 32 played during those two years, with a 1-15 then 0-16 record. Things were looking grim for the team but then they made some big changes and attitude adjustments that were highlighted by the HBO Hard Knocks coverage going into the 2018 season. While a change in mindset was necessary, they also felt a change in players would help their cause. That’s where the young athlete, Baker Mayfield comes into play.

Baker Begins

The Browns drafted Heisman winner out of Oklahoma, Baker Mayfield to groom him to either follow or start over the starting quarterback at the time, Tyrod Taylor who came in from playing 3 seasons as the starter for the Buffalo Bills. Tyrod gets hurt in Week 3 and that’s all she wrote. Baker shortly after taking over, leads the Browns to their first victory since 2016. It wasn’t much of a surprise when you look back at the rookie’s Oklahoma history where he passed for just over 12,000 yards in three years. With Baker’s competitive attitude and uncanny ability to make plays, the Browns were finally starting to look pretty good. The Browns went on to look like a competitive football team with a 7-8-1 record. This starts leading people to believe that the Browns are due for a winning season.

The Odds

It’s looking like a tall order for our underdogs here considering that, to win the AFC Championship alone, they need to beat the league’s highest-scoring offense, The Kansas City Chiefs and the infamous New England Patriots who have won 3 of the last 5 super bowls. Additionally, they would also have to take down the Los Angeles Rams who went head to head against the Patriots in Super Bowl 53 and had a regular-season record of 13-3.

Sports gamblers seem to have some faith in our guy Baker, as well. Vegas shows the odds of all the “Future Bets” that were taken prior to this season. (For those that don’t know, a “Future Bet” is when you place a bet on a team to win the Super Bowl prior to the regular season play, where if the odds are less likely, the more you win). The odds for the Browns to win the Super Bowl are sitting at 18/1 which means $18 for every $1 a person bets. Additionally, they are also the ninth most favored team to win, according to those gambling on it. They are the 5th most favored to win the AFC Championship with 9/1 odds.

Are They Feeling Dangerous Enough?

After a 28-16 win against the Atlanta Falcons in 2018, Baker Mayfield coined the phrase, “I woke up feeling dangerous.” He may have dominated that day but can he pull it off for this 2019 season? Sunday, September 8 sparked some concern for Browns fans because the Browns took a heavy loss from the Tennessee Titans at 43-13. Not to worry, the Browns quickly recovered with their 23-3 victory over the Jets on Monday, September 16. The odds may seem against them, but I think they’re feeling dangerous and there’s a whole lot of football left.