CLEVELAND, Ohio — Quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes talked on the field before the Browns’ 37-21 loss to the Chiefs and embraced after the game, and Mahomes seemed to be telling his good buddy to hang in there, that better times are ahead.

“He’s a great guy,’’ Mahomes said after the game. “He has a ton of talent and he’s going to keep getting better every single week. He played well today and the future is bright for him and the Cleveland Browns as quarterback.”

Likewise, Mayfield took a peek or two at Mahomes while he was flinging it around the field.

“He threw for a lot of yards,’’ said Mayfield. “I was able to see some of the times that he was stepping up into the pocket extending plays. It's what we all know that he can do. He just does it every day.”

With a much better supporting cast than Mayfield’s, Mahomes completed 23-of-32 attempts for 375 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for a 129.0 rating. It was his eighth straight game with at least 300 yards, one shy of Drew Brees’ record. His 29 TD passes are the most for a quarterback in the first 10 games of a career since 1950.

Mayfield, with a young offense, a new left tackle in Greg Robinson — who subbed for an ill Desmond Harrison — and a new offensive coordinator in Freddie Kitchens calling plays for the first time, completed 29-of-49 attempts for 297 yards with two TD and one interception for a 95.0 rating.

Imagine what Mayfield might be able to accomplish when he has better talent around him and an experienced, innovative coordinator running the offense. Can he be the Browns’ Mahomes, who’s 8-1 this season and with the league-high 29 touchdowns passes? For comparison’s sake, Mayfield has 10 TD passes in his 6 1/2 appearances and is 1-5.

“I don't think I'm watching him directly comparing myself to him,’’ said Mayfield. “I’ve always respected him and his game. We do some things similar, but at the same time, we're different players. He's making a lot of great plays, so I’d love to be able do that, too.”

Browns receiver Derrick Willies, who played with both Mayfield and Mahomes at Texas Tech, has his money on Mayfield.

“I’ve never seen anything like him,’’ Willies told cleveland.com earlier this month.

The two quarterbacks, although different in size and other aspects, are similar in many ways. They’re both mobile playmakers, can escape trouble and throw from all different arm angles. They can both make any throw on the field and are extremely accurate. They can step up and avoid the rush or sidestep it, and both have an awareness of where the pressure is coming from.

On back-to-back plays in the third quarter, Mahomes flicked a pass past an on-rushing Myles Garrett, but tight end Demetrius Harris dropped it. On the next play, he sidearmed a 16-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce while running almost full speed. It set up Kelce’s 13-yard TD pass on the next play, delivered perfectly to the tight end in the end zone with Jabrill Peppers draped on him.

Those are things that Mayfield will be able to do when he has better players around him, or he gets more experience with the current crew.

“He played well,’’ said Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford. “He’s amazing outside of the pocket and today I don’t think he scrambled that much, which was shocking for us. He’s going to be a great player in the league, and I’m just happy we were able to get the win.”

Mayfield stressed that the Chiefs, the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL with more than 36 points per game, don’t have some secret sauce.

“They're not doing anything unbelievable they invented,’’ he said. “They're getting their guys in good positions. They're running screens and executing them. They're getting one-on-one matchups and taking advantage of mismatches that they like. So that's the type of thing that you're seeing. That's what every offense tries to do is put them in a good position to win.”

In fact, he still believes the Browns just have to perfect what they’re doing. On the Browns’ first drive, for example, Mayfield hit rookie Damion Ratley with a perfect pass on a short bubble screen on third down and he dropped it. The Browns were forced to punt.

“They have guys who are making their plays,’’ Mayfield said. "Their quarterback is putting it in the right spot. He’s giving them a chance to win. So we just have to be better. We’re not going to abandon ship with what we’re doing and trying to do the Chiefs' offense. We’ve just got to trust our guys and trust our playmakers and do our job.”

But watching the Chiefs’ arsenal of weapons, mostly assembled by Browns GM John Dorsey when he was Chiefs’ GM, gives him hope for the future. Not only will Dorsey likely try to find an offensive mind like Andy Reid’s to coach the team, he’ll surround Mayfield with skill players like the Chiefs’.

“Absolutely. We believe in what he's doing,’’ said Mayfield. “We believe in the guys that he's brought in here and everything they're about. It's about the culture. That's where it starts. He established a culture there. He brought in the right pieces. And you've got to get people to believe in that. So it doesn't matter who you have. If you have that fixed, you can go a long way. So right now we're working on that. And as I said earlier, we've got to keep getting better.”

With Kitchens calling his first NFL game in place of fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley, Mayfield put 15 points on the board in the first half on two touchdowns and a field goal. The Browns failed on all three of their two-point attempts, but were attack-minded.

“I'd say that the only difference with Freddie, there was so much more communication throughout the week,’’ said Mayfield. “We wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page. He was very vocal about if we're not comfortable doing something as players, then we're not going to do it. So there was a lot of back and forth throughout the week, talking about the little details and things here and there.

“I think that's why we played better on offense today.We said we're going to get the ball in our playmakers' hands, so that's why you saw Duke (Johnson) more involved. So it was good to see some of those other guys make plays, too.”

Johnson was targeted a team-high nine times and caught all nine for 78 yards and two TDs. Mayfield also moved around more in an effort to not get sacked as much.

“We moved the pocket a little bit,’’ he said. “We got the ball out fast. They have some pass rushers that they speed rush off the edge so any time you've got guys like that, you're getting the ball out quick, that frustrates them. So we did that, moved the pocket, some boots and some different stuff here and there.

“But then on the scramble drill late in the game, the interception (with 4:29 left), I've just got to have vision of the whole field. The corner's got his eyes back inside because he is playing Cover 2. We have what we want. We've just got to be able to execute it.”

Interim Browns coach Gregg Williams loves Mayfield’s “come-get-some” mentality.

“I’ve always been impressed with him,’’ he said. “I like him as a player, and I like the way I saw on the field with him. I am anxious to hear how everybody says tomorrow, the responses and how he improved. You can see the guy belongs in our league. He led our football team. I’m sure there will be things he says he will get better, and he will better – seeing it before it happens.”

Everyone wondered about Mayfield’s development with Haley canned. But he discovered it may have been the best thing for him.

“I think I took a big jump from the past weeks to today, and I have to continue to do that,’’ he said.