BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens threw out an unintended challenge to the media when he discussed Baker Mayfield’s 351-yards of passing yards in the second half of Sunday’s loss at the Houston Texans.
"I don’t know what kind of record he was setting in the second half," Kitchens said. "But it had to be something."
Kitchens is right.
Mayfield’s second half did set marks.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 351 yards were the most passing yards by any Browns quarterback in a half since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
"At the end of the day," Kitchens said, "the kid made three bad decisions and everything else was pretty good."
The three bad decisions were interceptions thrown in the first half on consecutive possessions. That led to the Browns falling behind 23-0 at halftime. It didn’t leave much time to run the ball, so Mayfield had to fling it in the second half. And fling it he did. Houston might have either relaxed or played less aggressively, but Mayfield took advantage.
His 351 yards passing in one half ...
Were the most by a Browns quarterback in the second half since 1991, which is as far back as the team can go with its records when it comes to second-half marks.
Made him only the second Browns quarterback since 1991 to top 300 yards in the second half; Kelly Holcomb had 348 against the Bengals in 2004.
Were the most by an NFL quarterback in a non-overtime game since 2012, when Tom Brady threw for 367 in the second half of a loss to the 49ers.
Were the third most by any quarterback in any half since 19991, behind Brady and Kurt Warner, who had 373 in 2008 for Arizona.
Marked only the fourth time this season any quarterback had 300 or more yards in a half, and the 33rd time since 1991, according to ESPN Stats and Information research.
It is because of these marks that the Browns seem far less worried about the three interceptions than many other folks.
"I do not think that you have to tell Baker to shake off anything," Kitchens said. "He does a good job of it."
For that reason, the Browns are unconcerned about Mayfield as they point to Sunday’s home game against Carolina. The Panthers are a top-10 rushing defense, but they do give up passing yardage (256.8 on average, 22nd in the NFL), so Mayfield will have opportunities on a chilly Sunday.
In the aggregate, Mayfield leads NFL rookies in passing yards (263.9 per game), attempts (35.4) and completions 22.4). His 63.3 percent completion rate, 91.1 passer rating and 18 touchdowns also lead NFL rookies.
Mayfield has broken Otto Graham’s Browns record for touchdown passes, and he needs to average just 187.5 yards in the final four games to set the Browns record for rookie passing yards.
If he merely hits his average per game in his final four games, he’ll finish with more than 3,700 yards passing. If he has another big yardage game or two, like he did in Houston, he could push 4,000 yards, which would be quite a rookie season.
"I think [the loss in Houston] was a great learning experience for Baker," Kitchens said. "He is a rookie. He is playing in the National Football League. I do not know how many starts this is for him [nine], but he is a rookie, so he has a learning curve there. I think that was evident last week.
"I will tell you, I was very, very pleased and happy with the way he came back in the second half, because a couple of plays there and we are right back in the game."