The Browns came into Saturday’s game against the Broncos with high hopes, having won three of their last four games and needing to win out for any chance at playoffs. Cleveland would need to start by winning in Denver’s Mile High Stadium, a venue that has haunted the dreams of Browns fans for 31-plus years, for reasons not to be named here. In fact, few Browns fans under 40 can recall their favorite team winning a game in Denver, because the last victory occurred nearly thirty years ago.

Things started as well as any Browns fan could have hoped for, with Gregg Williams’ defense obliterating the Broncos first drive in violent fashion and forcing a punt, and the Browns took over at their own 49-yard line. Four plays later, Mayfield delivered a 31-yard TD pass to Breshard Perriman to take the lead, 7-0. The Browns looked poised to dominate their first primetime game since Baker Mayfield first took the field, bringing the Browns back from a two-touchdown deficit to win against the Jets in Week 3.

The Broncos, however, would not go down so easily. Case Keenum rose to the challenge, completing 14 of his next 18 passes, escaping an outstretched Myles Garrett to run for a touchdown, and then leading the Broncos to a field goal on their way to 10 unanswered points, taking the lead with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. The Browns would respond with a drive for a field goal to tie the game, but at this point, it was becoming apparent that Baker was having an off-night, with several of his passes uncharacteristically sailing above his intended targets. Over the next quarter and a half, the Broncos carved out a 3 point lead while strip-sacking and intercepting Baker Mayfield on consecutive drives. The night seemed to be going south for the Browns after a promising start.

Then, with 14:41 left in the 4th quarter, TJ Carrie intercepted Case Keenum at the Broncos 48 yard line. Baker opened the drive with a 12-yard out to Jarvis Landry for a first down. On the next two downs, the Browns victimized Broncos’ star rookie pass rusher Bradley Chubb on back to back plays, with Baker slipping a sure-fire sack and dropping a sideline dime to Rashard Higgins for 19 yards, and Duke Johnson stiff-arming Chubb to gain the edge for eight yards to the Broncos’ eight-yard line. From there on second-and-2, Mayfield fired a strike to Jarvis Landry for six yards and a first down.

It was first-and-goal for the Browns on Denver’s two-yard line, at which point Baker did this:

I’m not sure if I can overstate the greatness of this play given the circumstances. The Browns’ rookie quarterback, after having one of the worst halves of his young career, down three points in a win or go home scenario, and in a place the Browns haven’t won in nearly 30 years, orchestrated what would be a game-winning touchdown with the poise of a 15-year veteran – and he did it with a smile on his face. He did it with a smile on his face because he knew exactly what he was doing as he re-huddled his team and changed the play, moving Duke Johnson to the opposite side of the field to clear the safety opening up a slant to Antonio Callaway for the touchdown. This is not a level of play expected from a rookie quarterback, let alone one that had his Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator fired after 8 games this season. But Mayfield has arrived ahead of schedule.

It’s only been nine months since Mayfield, at that time a dark-horse candidate to be selected by the Browns in the draft, said this at the NFL combine:

Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield said if anyone is going to turn the #Browns around it would be him. pic.twitter.com/apTaXJdEj3 — Fred Greetham (@FredGreetham) March 2, 2018

After just 11 games as a starting quarterback for the Browns, Baker Mayfield may have already made good on those words. The Browns are now 6-7-1, and are unrecognizable from any other Browns team since their return in 1999. The Browns have found the franchise quarterback they have been searching for since the days of Bernie Kosar, and he brings with him a confidence that radiates throughout the team and into the city in a way that’s difficult to put into words.

Take a moment and watch that touchdown play one more time. Watch the look on Baker’s face, at that moment, as he delivers on what he promised. His teammates, as they did at Oklahoma and Lake Travis before, believe in Baker Mayfield.

And now so does Cleveland. If you haven’t fallen in love with Baker Mayfield, you probably aren’t a Browns fan, and you might not even like football. You might want to get that checked out.