Browns Rout Birds

With their backs against the wall and the whole world piling on, the Browns marched into Baltimore determined to plant their flag in the M&T Bank turf and walk out atop the AFC North.

They did just that with a convincing 40-25 rout of the Ravens that evened both teams at 2-2, but lifted the Browns into first by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“The win’s great, but I hope everybody keeps the same energy,’’ said an embattled Mayfield. “Threw us in the trash, we won’t forget it.’’

Mayfield, who feuded during the week with Rex Ryan and Antonio Brown, came out swinging, but refused to let Ryan steal his thunder.

“Absolutely not,’’ he said. “Rex Ryan does not get any credit for this week’s win. No.’’

The Browns, who were 1-10 in Baltimore in the John Harbaugh era, haven’t been in first in the AFC North since Brian Hoyer had them there at 6-3 in 2014.

Was it a statement game by the Browns, who were taking heat from all angles for their 1-2 start?

“Who knows?’’ said Freddie Kitchens. “If you keep your head down and keep working, usually good things happen. You turn the corner. [But] this is only one game. We have to go to San Francisco (3-0), and that’s going to be a huge game. Monday Night Football again.’’

The Browns closed ranks in the face of criticism — with folks questioning Kitchens’ playcalling, with Ryan calling Mayfield ‘overrated as hell’ — and took it to the defending division champs, who were No. 1 on offense and No. 1 in rushing.

“The more that people talk, the more the media talk, the more we’re going to stick together,’’ said Damarious Randall, who had his first career sack. “So keep on helping us stick together. We definitely appreciate that.’’

The Browns won thanks to Kitchens’ more creative playcalling, Mayfield’s best game of the year (342 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 102.4 rating), Nick Chubb’s breakout performance (165 yards and a career-high three touchdowns including the game breaking 88-yarder), Jarvis Landry’s big game (8 catches for a career-high 167 yards), Ricky Seals-Jones’ huge contribution (a big 59-yard catch-and-run and a TD) and another stellar performance by the defense, which forced Baltimore’s first three turnovers of the season and sacked Lamar Jackson (247 yards, 3 TDs, 96.1 rating) four times.

“We’re built to win on defense, whether y’all believe it or not,” defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said. “We take pride in that. The hype was all about the offense in the offseason and all that, which is good, we wanted y’all to sleep on us. This is what we plan on doing week-in and week-out, point blank, no hype, no boasting, it’s what we bring to the table.”