Baker Mayfield Lost the Game But Won Our Hearts With 3 Different Facial Hair Styles Yesterday

Baker Mayfield may have gone 27-for-42 on passes Sunday in a dispiriting loss to the lowly Broncos, the Cleveland Browns' sixth L of the season, but off the field he went three-for-three on facial hair and—despite some Internet roasting for his post-game fit—won the grooming game.

Following the loss to the Broncos, Mayfield emerged from the locker wearing a peacoat, scarf, and hair that was missing his typical gelled-back panache. Twitter wasn't kind. “Strong divorced dad who lives at a motel showing up for his weekend visitation energy,” The Ringer writer Jason Concepcion tweeted. But what divorced dads and Baker Mayfield both know is that there’s nothing quite like a committed ‘stache to lift you out of a funk.

And that mustache wasn't even his first big facial hair move of the night. Let's walk through the game-tape: Mayfield walked into the stadium wearing a powerful beard, sprawling across his face and neck:

That was transformed into a pair of handlebars sometime before the game kicked off:

The final ‘stache was, as you can see at the top of this post, is the result of an athlete sticking to a well-researched game plan. Mayfield’s QBR got a boost a Sunday thanks to his solid play, but his Quarterback Beard Rating shot through the roof after a single day of objectively strong facial hair, executed with both precision and panache. Even if he doesn't have the win-loss record of an NFL champion right now, he certainly has the facial hair of one. It's obvious right now that Mayfield is the MVP… of finding creative ways to craft his beard into something beautiful over a Sunday evening. You get the point.

And where the rest of Mayfield’s post-game look—loose coat, dangling scarf, dull-eyed stare—gives off a strong "Hey man, can you spare a touchdown?" vibe, that undeniable 'stache feels like the first brick in the path towards a Browns turnaround. Sometimes a bad loss is what spurs players onto greatness. Post-game press conferences are where legends are made. Remember Aaron Rodgers’s bet during the 2016 season that his 4-6 Packers could run the table and then they did? Or, in 2008, when Tim Tebow made his iconic "Promise" speech? That presser, that mustache, may be Mayfield's reminder that he's not done yet. Hello, Rally 'Stache.

Originally Appeared on GQ