Baker Mayfield makes a throw Sunday in the Browns' win over the Bengals. (John Kuntz, cleveland.com)

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Just about a month ago, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was among the league's worst-rated passers when outside the pocket. He was in the midst of a tough stretch of games where the offense was failing to click under former offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Enter Freddie Kitchens, and the turnaround has been swift.

Mayfield has shown comfort in the quick schemes Kitchens has implemented, but he has also shown the trait that so many evaluators loved: ability to work outside structure.

What is meant by "work outside structure?" It's a layered question.

Each passing snap, an offense has a design that calls for routes, blocking and reading what the defense is doing to make the best decision. The problem is, those schemes don't always unfold in the best possible way. Things change. Defenses are paid good money to disrupt offenses, and sometimes they win the snap.

However, the best quarterbacks in the business handle the chaos and make a play when the structure becomes lost. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers is the current savant at the trade, and it has saved many Packers seasons.

With how deceptive and fast modern NFL defenses have become, a quarterback has to find solutions outside the play's original design, and we saw Mayfield thrive in this department Sunday in Cincinnati.

There's an art to how it all comes together from quarterback to wide receiver and we will show it here. Let's dive in.

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MAYFIELD TO RASHARD HIGGINS FOR 24 YARDS

Coming out in an empty (no-running-backs) set, the Browns run curl/flat to both sides (often called mirrored routes). They add a wrinkle with the settle route by Higgins right in front of Mayfield's face as an easy blitz outlet or zone solution.

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Now, in scramble drills, coaches teach receivers running short routes to turn long, and receivers running long routes to work back to the quarterback.

Teams rep this drill weekly and it is vital to offensive success.

Here we see the drill applied.

Higgins is sitting in front of Mayfield on his settle route, but he notices Mayfield is forced to step up and slide to his left. Upon realizing this, he takes off at a 45-degree angle to the sideline to give his quarterback an option into his vision.

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Mayfield does a great job getting his hips squared to the line of scrimmage at the last second to deliver this ball over two defenders in a tight window.

This throw takes an immense amount of touch and accuracy, and he dropped this one in to Higgins for the big gain, working outside of structure because of the pressure.

Here's the full play clip from both angles.

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MAYFIELD TO ANTONIO CALLAWAY FOR 13-YARD TOUCHDOWN

The very next play after the Higgins catch, the Browns find success outside structure again. The scheme calls for dig/wheel to both sides, again mirrored for simplicity.

The dig is usually run 8 to 10 yards and flat across. This is a great Red-2 beater when teams play Cover-2 (two deep safeties) near the end zone.

There is once again a settle in Mayfield's face from Higgins, and that is his first read if he faces interior pressure.

After the snap, he is reading the dig/wheel side to his left, keeping an eye on the MIKE linebacker and play-side safety.

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The Bengals throw a twist at Mayfield, as they drop defensive tackle Geno Atkins (No. 97) into coverage, and he takes away the settle route from Higgins. Also, the safety sits on the dig route from Callaway initially.

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With Higgins' answer being removed from the equation, Mayfield has to work his eyes to the next location. He feels pressure to his left, so he works under the high-side pressure, and Callaway notices Mayfield's movement. He quickly flips his hips and works to the back pylon.

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Mayfield's window happens quickly. He has to again get his hips right quickly to make this throw with zip, as Atkins is approaching him quickly from the drop he initially used.

This ball has to be thrown with out-in-front accuracy as the safety is in Callaway's hip pocket still, but also has to be over the linebacker squatting near the goal line.

Take a look at Mayfield's accuracy on the full clip below.

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MAYFIELD TO CALLAWAY FOR 21 YARDS

In the midst of a 12-play, 96-yard touchdown drive, Mayfield pulled this throw out to save a third and 11.

The scheme calls for the "Mills Concept" to the field (the one we touched on after the Baltimore win). The field routes -- meaning to the wide side of the field -- are paired with a backside ray route by the "X" receiver, Callaway, to the boundary (short side of the field).

The route gives Mayfield a one-on-one matchup he can attack if he likes it.

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Off the snap, Mayfield wants to read the field-side concept, but he is forced to go quickly to the boundary ray route when the Bengals bring pressure up the "A" gap, between the center and guard.

Defenses "sugar the A-gap" with two walked-up linebackers to confuse protection. It works here to allow them to get a man through, and Mayfield is quickly forced off his spot.

Mayfield has to escape the pocket to his right upon the free rusher's arrival and make a challenging 20-yard throw with precision.

This was his best ball of the day working outside structure, and the accuracy in a small window was impressive. Callaway's route was effective in winning the opening and can't be overlooked.

Here's the full play clip.

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MAYFIELD TO FELLS FOR 6-YARD TOUCHDOWN

Once again the Browns are in the red zone, where decisions and routes get rushed.

The Browns go with a form of the "Drive Concept" from under-center here. They pair the concept with an angle route from Orson Charles at fullback and a swing route from Nick Chubb.

Mayfield is reading the high-low on the MIKE linebacker between Jarvis Landry's drive route and Darren Fells' dig route over top.

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For whatever reason, Mayfield gets caught with his eyes hanging to the left. He likely predetermined the trailing angle route from Charles coming open.

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In getting caught with his eyes to the left, Mayfield misses out on Fells' dig route window that comes open in front of his face.

When he watches the tape this week, he will feel bad about missing this throw within structure.

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All quarterbacks miss things within structure at times. But what Mayfield is able to do is escape the pocket to his right, keep his eyes downfield, and find Fells in the back left corner of the end zone with ease.

He never panics and never feels out of sorts when he works outside the structure and escapes the pocket.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Mayfield finds himself on a historic pace in his rookie season.

Despite not beginning his NFL career until Week 3, Mayfield is within striking distance of the NFL rookie touchdown record of 26 held by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson. The rapid growth since the removal of Haley has pushed Mayfield to a level of comfort that few rookies display.

The game seemed to slow down immensely for Mayfield against the Bengals, and his last five games have shown us this is no fluke.

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Baker Mayfield since TB (10/21):



110 for 158



1166 yards



13 TDs & 2 INTs



115 passer rating.



Elite stuff. — Jake Burns (@jake_burns18) November 25, 2018

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The Chiefs, Falcons and Bengals don't present the NFL's most rigorous defenses, but at the end of the day, players have to perform, and Mayfield has done just that. It is easy to forget he is just a rookie.

These last five games will tell the story for Mayfield and this offense's true progress since midseason.

Facing off with tough defenses such as the Texans, Panthers, Broncos and Ravens will paint a clear picture.

For now, Mayfield's progression has been precisely linear, and it is clear the Browns took the best rookie with their first overall pick.