Baker Mayfield: Offense Got Better, But It Was Still A Loss
November 9th, 2023
Good game; not good enough.
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield didn’t seem to have much interest in putting lipstick on a hog.
Yeah, Sunday the Bucs offense finally provided a pulse and scored a season-high 37 points. Certainly enough to win the game. The defense let the team down.
Despite the offense’s best game, and Mayfield leading the Bucs down the field for a go-ahead touchdown late, Mayfield said it was still a loss. As a result, Mayfield said the offense needed to do more.
“If you look at it from kind of an overview look, then yeah, we scored when we needed to,” Mayfield said. “But I think the tale of it was not scoring in the third quarter.
“Then on that drive alone, yeah, we overcame some things, but they were self-inflicted – some penalties. A third-and-23 is not where you want to be on a critical drive in the fourth quarter needing to score a touchdown.
“Luckily, Trey [Palmer] ran a great route over the middle and was able to get close enough to be able to convert on fourth down. We showed that we can get it done when we need to, but there is still the same story of the self-inflicted things that we need to eliminate.”
Joe thinks it is great that Mayfield isn’t resting on the strong performance.
How big was that 37 points? That’s the most the Bucs have scored since Todd Bowles was named coach.
In fact, the last time the Bucs scored more than 37 points was the final regular season game of the 2021 season when the Bucs hung 41 points on the Stinking Panthers.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:03 am
His game will never be ready for prime time
He’s a scrappy player and would be a EXCELLENT backup Quarterback
I could go on but….
November 9th, 2023 at 8:12 am
Mayfield is gritty, tough and plays with a lot of heart, I’ll give him that. There’s a breakdown of the flea flicker (and many other missed reads throughout the season) which shows why he shouldn’t be the starter though. On this play, once he got the ball back from White he was looking in Evans direction then switched over to Otton. Evans was WIDE OPEN for a huge gain possibly a touchdown. Why mayfield chose to continue his progression and throw to a covered Otton is unclear. I could only assume it’s because he couldn’t see over the line and identify Mike had his man beat and the sideline was left uncovered. People continuously bash Canales and his play calls but the plays have been there, the players are just not executing them.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:15 am
IDIOTS. Don’t hang this loss on Mayfield. Did you not watch the game.
Our defensive guru Bowles and his pack of lifeless under achievers stunk the joint up.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:16 am
The Houston D is ranked 18th, they were also missing the majority of their staring secondary and the team had NO kicker. I wouldn’t say the O is out of the woods quite yet.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:21 am
GZ .. it’s ego and pride, if Trask plays well the cries of why didn’t the coaches see that !
We absolutely need to find out if Trask can play!
I am a ‘Cane !
November 9th, 2023 at 8:22 am
Don’t fall for the usual fans trying to turn this in to a war again. He said they needed to do more in the 3rd which is exactly what most people here said. He agreed with you. Leave it alone.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:22 am
It’s amazing how much better our offense gets when our run blocking gets better! Who would have ever guessed? 😱
November 9th, 2023 at 8:26 am
Those 37 points were a grind. Easily the ugliest 37 point-game I’ve ever witnessed. It’s like the offense has to fight tooth and nail for every inch, it’s very inefficient, and don’t get me started on the play calling, especially during critical situations.
@ About Evans, yeah he had room but with that safety coming over the top, Baker probably played it safe rather than sorry, steering clear of a pick.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:27 am
GZanotti the answer is simple.
Bowles wanted Mayfield. He brought him in with a BS line about competition that everyone knew was a lie from moment one. He’s going to continue to run Mayfield out there no matter what.
Because when it stops being about winning in 2023 (which is pretty much the emerging reality now) the focus is going to be on Mayfield finishing the season to get a contract.
But this is how things are done now in Tampa. It’s not about the best guy or what makes most sense for the franchise – it’s about who you know and who likes who. It’s how Bowles got his job. It’s how Mayfield got his.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:33 am
And the 37 points was totally offense. The defense and ST didn’t add any points
November 9th, 2023 at 8:35 am
Baker was aided by 9 Houston penalties for 115 yards don’t forget.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:39 am
All of this false hope by the Trakites is just sad. They actually believed that one of the many teams in desperate need for a QB were going to “steal” the golden Gator boy away from the Bucs and that laughably, he was going to be worth a pick from another team. Nobody wants him – he’s not even worth a 7th rounder. In reality, the only QB the Bucs were worried about losing is their practice squad QB, Wolford, who the Rams were trying to get.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:40 am
I dont think the offense got better, we just played a terrible team. We’ll see what happens this week. Im willing to bet we go back to scoring 17 points or less.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:44 am
The team has been flat lining since Bowles became HC and last year he had the GOAT
November 9th, 2023 at 8:50 am
Any idiot who mentions Trask in the conversation about last week should probably follow a different sport. They scores 37 points.
The Defense was the problem. The coaching was the problem.
The sad part is Baker got stuck in a one year tryout and the house around him has collapsed. Canales and Bowles will be ex Tampa residents this time next year.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:51 am
Does anyone really care about the rest of this season?
A puncher’s chance is all this team has!
November 9th, 2023 at 8:58 am
Its comical how the cheerleaders are more angry at other fans than they are at this lousy team.
“Grrrrr how dare you not support our all pro QB!! GRRRR!!!”
November 9th, 2023 at 9:05 am
Actually, Mayfield is BEST IN THE LEAGUE under pressure this year,
Mayfield’s overall EPA when under pressure in 2023 is +0.9, which doesn’t sound particularly impressive until it is noted that the next quarterback on the list, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, is at -7.1. After that it’s the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, at -8.7. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, a certified wizard when plays break down, is at -54.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:05 am
Sure I care about the rest of the season. I care about and root for the team every week, every year, good season or bad. That’s what actual fans do.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:06 am
I care about the rest of the season. Expectations were always too high on this site. The Buccaneers have a lot of young players. They’ve improved their kicking game. They appear to have had an excellent draft and some of these players will be getting more. Baker may be less than a top 5 quarterback but he can win for you. In the Atlantic game. He did what he needed to do and then the defense failed to stop the Falcons. Last week he would have been the Hebrew of the game. Had the defense stopped Houston with 40 some seconds left. No reason to hate Baker Mayfield. With an obviously undermaned offensive line, he has played pretty damn well. The jury should still be out on the offensive coordinator. He still makes a lot of very questionable calls.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:08 am
Josh Allen also now has more career interceptions than Mayfield and they came into the league the same year..
November 9th, 2023 at 9:08 am
Incorrect. Fans are allowed to express their frustration when a team is a total crap show. Cheerleaders are the ones who are always rah rah whether a team is winning or losing. You’re welcome.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:29 am
And I keep thinking back to last year with Brady’s results with these clowns
November 9th, 2023 at 9:38 am
One sustained drive anywhere during the game would have eaten enough clock that we would not need this discussion.
It is not just Baker. I would say it if it was because he is not the future of the Bucs.
Canales keep trying to make a run game appear out of thin air, maybe because Hot Toddie says he has to.
This team will go nowhere fast if they are always behind the chains on 3rd down. Even if Trask is a future superstar he will have a hard time sustaining drives.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:45 am
I know this doesn’t matter but I see Mayfield is still maintaining his season-long place in the top half, statistically, of QBs in the NFL. Currently, he is 12th in the NFL and NO.1 in the NFC South. I predict Mayfield will be starting someplace else next year, maybe the Rams? And Kyle Trask will be backing up someone. maybe a young lad from the college ranks.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:50 am
You haters kill me. With the worst run game in the league and very dodgy pass protection baker is putting up good numbers while limiting turn overs and sacks. Defenses do not need to defend the run because our RBs can’t get past the line of scrimmage half the time. I think baker is going to be highly sought after come end of the season based in his play under these circumstances. Rams and Pat’s come to mind.
November 9th, 2023 at 9:57 am
ScottyMack@ please don’t compare Allen to Mayfield, that’s quite the reach. Allen currently has 2423 yds, 324 attempts completing 231 for 71.3%. Mayfield 1865 yds 276 attps completing 179 for 64.9%. If the Bucs had Allen even with Todd NO offense Bowles, Bucs would have 3 more wins.
November 9th, 2023 at 11:00 am
baker has that Kenny stabler/ Brett Favre scrappiness…. I think the silver and black would look good on him …but that division…😳
November 9th, 2023 at 11:29 am
Houston has 23 players on their injury report after last weekend’s game and the Baker Bois are demanding that the QB discussion end.
Sorry no. That was the Texan 2nd string.
November 9th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
I still find it very difficult to understand the love for Trask. He has shown to be a practice squad player and only this year elevated to backup. If the Bucs were really interested in a change at QB I would rather see Wolford who played solid for the Rams playing in a similar offense. Personally I think Mayfield is a very good QB and would not make a change.
November 9th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
I said it long ago and I will say it again. Maybefield is not a Franchise QB and will never be. He is the reason why the offense has played poorly and we have lost most of the 5 games. He is destroying the team with every snap he takes. Welcome to Cleveland south!
November 9th, 2023 at 3:29 pm
I struggle to see how fans think 14 points a game will win games in this nfl consistently. But, up until the Texans, the defense held multiple teams to 3 tds or less. This is a solid defense for most of the year. Currently, tied 4th in takeaways. Quick three and outs hurts all defenses. Big plays often happens when the defense is on the field for a long time. Or just getting 3 points off multiple turnovers. The points win and lose games. The yards are irrelevant.
But, it’s everyone fault except the cultfield. Could the OC play calling be crazy due to miss throws and not seeing the correct wideout being open or penalties?
One moment R. White had a break out game. The next he suck. The truth is the deep pass open up the run. The run open up the deep pass. Dink and donk passes move the chain sometime, but doesn’t help the run game much. All three phases of the game impact each other.
November 9th, 2023 at 7:43 pm
Scotty Mack,
Funny you said 7rounder. That’s where the cowboys had him evaluated. A 7th round talent.
Red86,
The deep ball would give the offense more space between the first and second levels. The problem isn’t mayfield. It’s canales, he’s said over and over again the offense is short passes until the safeties play down, then and only then they will go deep. That’s scheme.
Trask would be asked to do the same thing. And don’t forget the number 1 priority, no turnovers.