The Steelers need help from the Browns in Week 17, and the team just might get it thanks to Baker Mayfield.
Trailing the Ravens (9-6) by one half game in the AFC North standings, the Steelers (8-6-1) need to beat the Bengals (6-9) at home Sunday then hope Mayfield can lead his Browns (7-7-1) to victory in Baltimore.
The Browns' rookie quarterback is 6-6 as a starter, but he's heating up when it matters, going 5-1 over his last six. During that stretch, Mayfield has thrown 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, with three of those picks coming in a 29-13 loss to the Texans, the only blemish on his current streak.
In 12 starts, Mayfield has thrown 24 touchdowns, two short of the rookie record of 26 shared by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson. Perhaps more impressively for an NFL newcomer, Mayfield has thrown just 11 interceptions, one more than Wilson's 10 during his rookie campaign and 17 fewer than Manning's 28.
The real money comes during that recent 5-1 run though, during which Mayfield has posted four passer ratings over 120 — 151.2, 143.9, 126.9 and 121.9 — and completed 73.1 percent of his passes. Most recently, Mayfield threw for 284 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions in a 26-18 Browns victory over the Bengals.
For his performance in that game, Mayfield was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. He didn't stop racking up the hardware there, though. Wednesday, Mayfield was named the Browns Player of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.
“Back when I retired in March, our local writers announced that they would be renaming the Player of the Year Award to the Joe Thomas Award,'' former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas said in a quote provided by the Browns (h/t Cleveland.com). "It’s an honor that I take great pride in and I couldn’t think of a better recipient this year than Baker Mayfield. He has sparked this team and this city and I can’t wait to continue watching him in the Orange & Brown for many years to come."
Tack onto that his five NFL Rookie of the Week awards, and it all adds up to one thing for Steelers fans: Hope.
Mayfield got the best of the Joe Flacco-led Ravens in Week 5, winning 12-9 in overtime, but like the Browns, the Ravens have recently hit their groove.
Led by a rookie quarterback of their own in Lamar Jackson, the Ravens have posted an impressive 5-1 record in their last six, with the only defeat coming at the hands of the 11-4 Chiefs.
It will be rookie vs. rookie with the season on the line Sunday in Charm City.
And for a Steelers season defined by drama, triumphs and disappointments, it's perfect.