Tyrod Taylor did nothing to suggest his grip on the starting quarterback job in Cleveland should be slipping in his short night’s work against the Giants on Thursday.
Taylor opened the game with a 32-yard completion to Jarvis Landry only to see Landry had 15 of the yards back with a taunting penalty when the play was over. He then completed two straight passes to wide receiver Rashard Higgins on the second Browns possession of the night to set up a 36-yard touchdown strike to tight end David Njoku.
The Browns moved at a very high tempo on that drive and Taylor found the open spots to exploit in the Giants defense.
Baker Mayfield replaced Taylor after the touchdown and threw an incompletion on the way to a quick punt. As with Taylor, drive No. 2 was more successful. Mayfield hit Higgins for 26 yards, C.J. Board for 21 yards, converted a third down with a run and then did the same on a subsequent fourth down. The drive ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Njoku and good feelings all around about the Browns quarterbacks.