![Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield gets the game ball following the team's first victory since 2016. [Cleveland Browns]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d19f13e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/897x503+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F9%2F21%2FMayfield%20Jets%20ball%20092018%20cropped.png)
It took 635 days, but the Cleveland Browns are back in the win column and fans across the region celebrated with “samples” from the Bud Light Victory Fridge.
The fridges unlocked via Wi-Fi as soon as the score went final at 10 different locations throughout Northeast Ohio, sparking playoff-style celebrations now that the winless streak is finally over.
Rookie quarterback and first overall draft pick Baker Mayfield replaced Tyrod Taylor (concussion symptoms) late in the second quarter and immediately led the Browns to a field goal. In the second half, with Mayfield at the helm, Cleveland outscored the Jets 18-3 to secure a 21-17 victory.
"Once Baker got in the game at quarterback, you just saw a different rhythm," said Browns Head Coach Hue Jackson, whose team won for just the second time since he was hired in 2016. "Tonight was his coming out party."
Mayfield was 17-23 for 201 yards passing. He also caught a two-point conversion on a trick play to tie the score at 14.
"I feel good," Mayfield said after the win. "We finally put the pieces together a little bit. That's the thing I'm most proud of: We put it together for the fans at home."
Mayfield says he wasn’t fazed when captain Tyrod Taylor went down. As a backup, he has to stay ready.
"That's never how I want to get to play. I love Ty, he's one of our captains, and I have so much respect for him," Mayfield said. "But that's the mentality we have to have: Next man up, and we have to be able to do our jobs."
The home crowd's enthusiasm for Mayfield was palpable from the moment he entered the game, and the young quarterback said he "felt the energy. It was an unbelievable feeling. That builds confidence in us."
He added, "I didn't do this by myself."
Indeed, Browns running back Carlos Hyde, a former Ohio State Buckeye, rushed 23 times for 98 yards and two touchowns. On defense, Terrence Mitchell and Joe Schobert came up with key interceptions in the second half. Schobert’s pick sealed the game with 1:27 left in the 4 th quarter.
The Browns' last win was December 24, 2016, against the former San Diego Chargers. The Chargers now play in Los Angeles.
Cleveland fans this season were teased with a 21-21 tie in week 1 against rival Pittsburgh and an agonizing 21-18 loss to New Orleans last Sunday that cost kicker Zane Gonzalez his job. New kicker Greg Joseph was two for two on field goals and hit his only extra point try.
Browns head coach Hue Jackson moves to 2-32-1 in 35 games. The Browns were 4-50-1 in their last 55 games heading into Thursday night, stretching back to the Mike Pettine coached Browns in 2014.
The Browns' next game is Sunday September 30, at Oakland (0-2).
