CINCINNATI -- After tossing an absolute strike to David Njoku for an exclamation-point, fourth-quarter touchdown, Baker Mayfield high-stepped his way to the end zone to celebrate. The Cleveland Browns quarterback then dashed to the sidelines, where defensive teammates Anthony Walker and Ronnie Harrison Jr were waiting with high fives.

Last season in Cincinnati, Mayfield and the Browns suddenly found an identity. Back in the Queen City on Sunday, Cleveland might very well have rediscovered it.

Mayfield and the embattled Browns emphatically put the Odell Beckham Jr. saga behind them with a resounding 41-16 victory over the Bengals. For the first time all year, they resembled the squad of 2020 that surged down the stretch of the season on the way to the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2002.

The defense was opportunistic, starting with Denzel Ward’s 99-yard pick-six on Cincinnati’s opening drive.

The running game was overpowering, highlighted by Nick Chubb’s 70-touchdown dash.

And with little worry about who or who wasn’t getting the ball, Mayfield played freely and crisply, underscored by his 60-yard touchdown bomb to Donovan Peoples-Jones.

Off those three plays, the Browns became the first NFL team since 1967, according to Elias, to produce defensive, rushing and passing touchdowns of at least 60 yards in the same game.

More importantly, Cleveland finally looked like a team that could get back to the playoffs. And make a little noise once in them, as well.

“We needed that win. Our whole locker room needed it. And they knew that. Played for each other,” Mayfield said. “I trust the guys in this locker room. When adversity hit, nobody flinched. It was a long week. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But proud of these guys.”

Once again, the turnaround could be attributed to an addition by subtraction.

Last year, the Browns staggered into Cincinnati midway through the season. They had just lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mayfield was struggling. Not much was clicking.

Then, in the opening series, Beckham was lost for the year to a season-ending knee injury. And almost immediately, Mayfield and the Browns took off.

Mayfield went on to complete a franchise-record 21 consecutive passes that day while tossing five touchdown passes, including the game winner.

On Sunday, Mayfield didn’t put up the same big numbers. But he was just as efficient.

He carried a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 into the third quarter. He spread the ball around to eight different pass-catchers. And he delivered a series of key throws that prevented the Bengals from ever seriously threatening a rally.

“I wouldn’t even compare the two,” said coach Kevin Stefanski, when asked about Mayfield’s two Cincinnati outings. “I would tell you, he showed today, he was playing at a high level. He was seeing it very, very clearly.”

Mayfield started seeing it all so clearly in Cincinnati last year, and Cleveland was a different team the rest of the way.

Back in Cincy, Mayfield had that look again. Priming the Browns, perhaps, for a 2020 redux.