Baker Mayfield Praises Joe Burrow After Bengals vs. Browns: 'The Hype Is Real'

Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns defeated Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals 35-30 on Thursday evening.  

After the game, Mayfield praised his adversary's performance, telling reporters (h/t ESPN's Jake Trotter) that "the hype is real" in regards to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

Burrow arrived in the NFL after leading the LSU Tigers to a 15-0 record and a national championship during a 2019 season in which he threw for 60 touchdown passes and won the Heisman Trophy.

He's looked the part in the pros, too, as evidenced by Thursday's showing.

Burrow completed 37 of 61 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns on a night the Bengals had to keep fighting from behind due to their shaky offensive line play and a defense that could not stop the Browns' rushing or passing attacks.

Despite taking seven quarterback hits (three sacks) and the defense allowing 9.5 yards per pass attempt and 6.1 yards per rush, Burrow guided the Bengals to 30 points, which included touchdowns on drives of 83 and 75 yards in the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati was forced to all but abandon the run in its quest to make up the near game-long point differential, in addition to the fact that it was only able to rush for 2.8 yards per carry.

That didn't matter, however, as Burrow was able to move the ball down the field time and again. The Bengals converted all five of their fourth-down attempts with the rookie under center, keeping hope alive as Cleveland's offense failed to miss a beat.

The stats didn't lie about Burrow after his second career pro game.

His play also got the attention of LeBron James:

Burrow and the Bengals will now look for their first win when they visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.