BEREA, Ohio -- The first time Baker Mayfield played in AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, he won a Texas state championship as quarterback of Lake Travis High School.

The third time he played there, he won a Big 12 title with Oklahoma.

Mayfield returns to Jerry's World, where friends and family will be waiting, along with a few fond memories on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox).

"Always fun to play there," the Cleveland Browns quarterback said. "Growing up, seeing the high school state championships there and then playing there a couple times in college, it's a great stadium. It'll be a fun one."

Mayfield won't have a championship on the line this time around in Arlington, Texas. But facing off against quarterback Dak Prescott and one of the most talented offenses in the league, Mayfield has a prime opportunity to make a statement in a game primed to potentially tilt into a shootout.

"We have to do whatever it takes to win," he said. "If that's a shootout, then great. If it's another game where we have to control the clock, then we'll do that."

So far, Mayfield has been solid managing an offense hellbent on rushing the ball and controlling the clock. Nick Chubb is fourth in the NFL in rushing, and teammate Kareem Hunt is 13th. They are both averaging better than five yards per carry and also rank second and third in the league in yards after contact per rush.

Yet even as the running game has been Cleveland's bread and butter under coach Kevin Stefanski, Mayfield quietly has bounced back in efficiency off a rough 2019 campaign.

After finishing 19th in QBR last season, he ranks ninth with a QBR of 75.6, one spot behind Prescott. Mayfield's QBR score has been buoyed by an improvement in limiting mistakes. Mayfield has taken only two sacks, he has yet to fumble, and he ended his previously league-high eight-game streak throwing an interception in last Sunday's win over Washington. Mayfield has also been stellar near the goal line, completing four of seven passes in the red zone for four touchdowns without a turnover.

Of course, considering it has been three games, the sample is small. And Mayfield's Week 2 performance against Cincinnati, in which he produced a 98.2 QBR that remains the weekly best of any NFL quarterback this season, is driving his overall QBR number. Still, after a rough season-opening showing in a 30-point loss in Baltimore, Mayfield's rebound has been encouraging, as the Browns have scored 30 in back-to-back outings for the first time in a decade.

"We'll look at the whole body of work here as the season goes on, [but] he's doing a nice job for us," Stefanski said. "He's spreading the ball around. We feel like we have multiple guys that can be productive on any given day, and I think when we spread it around like that, that's a function of him being smart with the ball and taking what's there."

Mayfield agreed spreading the ball around has been a strength. His five touchdown passes, in fact, have gone to four different players, with Hunt the only one to reel in two.

"Right now, we are just distributing the ball, not letting teams take away one guy and panic," Mayfield said. "Try and get the ball out, trust my guys, whoever it is, to get the ball in their hands and let them do the work and distribute it. ... I think the best part of what I've done so far is just listen to my feet, distribute the ball and recognize and react."

The looming question, however, is whether there is more for Mayfield and the passing game. Mayfield ranks 27th in the league in passing yards per dropback and passing yards per attempt. He's only 28th with only 564 passing yards, as well. To hang with an offense like Dallas, the Browns likely will need more explosiveness and playmaking out of their passing attack -- something Mayfield said he needs to be better in producing.

"When we have our shot that we've drawn up," Mayfield said, "taking advantage of those opportunities.

The Dallas game could offer a chance for Mayfield to do just that. In a place he has done plenty in the past.