Rookie Baker Mayfield leads Browns to first win since 2016

CLEVELAND – For the first time in 635 days, the Cleveland Browns found a way to win.

Baker Mayfield showed them how.

The No. 1 overall pick replaced injured starter Tyrod Taylor and sparked the Browns, who got two 1-yard touchdown runs from Carlos Hyde and beat the New York Jets 21-17 on Thursday night for their first win since Dec. 24, 2016.

"I've just been waiting for my moment," Mayfield said. "I'm just getting started."

And so ends Cleveland's 19-game winless streak, the NFL's second-longest run of failure since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The Browns (1-1-1) trailed 14-0 in the first half before Mayfield came in for Taylor and led four scoring drives while winning an unexpected matchup against Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. Cleveland passed on taking Darnold in the draft and instead chose Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma.

Mayfield finished 17-for-23 for 201 yards in a little more than a half, coming in after Taylor suffered a concussion.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Cleveland fans, who had endured a 0-16 season and waited nearly two years to see their Browns win, erupted in celebration.

Refrigerators around the city stocked with Bud Lights — to be opened after a Browns win — were finally unlocked.

This was just one win, and while it was an ending, it also felt like a beginning — because of Mayfield.

"Dilly, dilly to the Cleveland fans," Mayfield said, using the beer's commercial slogan. "It's not the only win we're going to celebrate."

Isaiah Crowell had two touchdown runs for the Jets (1-2), who seemed in control when they took a 14-0 lead and knocked Taylor from the game.