Is Case Keenum about to create a QB controversy in Cleveland?

If the Cleveland Browns continue to win with former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum as their starter, will the team still bench him when Baker Mayfield is healthy?

Thursday night’s matchup between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns featured a bunch of Minnesota Vikings flavor on both sidelines. Several former Vikings players and coaches took part in the contest including Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, Kevin Stefanski, Pat Shurmur, Mike Priefer, Johnny Stanton, Shamar Stephen, and Chase McLaughlin.

In the end, Keenum and the Browns got the best of Bridgewater and the Broncos, leaving the field in Cleveland with a 17-14 win.

For Keenum, it’s his first victory as a starter since Week 6 of the 2019 season when he helped the Washington Football Team defeat the Miami Dolphins by a final score of 17-16.

Is former Minnesota Vikings QB Case Keenum about to get the Cleveland Browns season back on track?

In his first start since 2019, Keenum completed 21 of his 33 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions for a final rating of 90.3. The former Minnesota quarterback was also only sacked once on Thursday night, which is 17 fewer times the guy ahead of him on Cleveland’s depth chart, Baker Mayfield, has gone down this season.

Keenum got the start against the Broncos after Mayfield suffered a torn labrum and a fractured humerus bone in the Browns’ Week 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Mayfield would love to return sooner than later, but it really just depends on how fast his fracture heals.

So until that happens, Cleveland will continue to roll with Keenum under center. Looking ahead at the Browns’ next four opponents, they will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions at home inside FirstEnergy Stadium and they’ve got a pair of road matchups against the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots.

If Keenum can lead the Browns to at least three wins during the next four weeks, will the team still turn to Mayfield when he’s healthy?

It’s not like Mayfield was having himself an amazing season before missing Thursday’s game. In six starts this year, the former No. 1 draft pick had only thrown six touchdowns and he’s turned the ball over five times (three interceptions, two lost fumbles).

Still, unless Keenum is just playing out of his mind and Cleveland is easily defeating their opponents during these next few weeks, we should expect the former Vikings quarterback to head back to the bench when Mayfield is healthy enough to play again.

Mayfield is supposed to be the Browns’ franchise quarterback, so it’s hard to imagine him losing his job to Keenum this season even if the former Minnesota passer plays well while filling in.

Vikings fans won’t complain, however, if Keenum recaptures some of the magic he had in 2017 and is able to experience success over the next few weeks as Cleveland’s starter.