Baker Mayfield Climbs Out Of Loser Class
September 23rd, 2025
Eli Manning has a career regular season record of 117-117 and is considered a strong candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Yes, his two Super Bowl rings have a lot to do with that.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon (1984-2000) has a 102-101 regular season record, not counting his years in Canada.
Players love to say how hard winning is in the NFL. They’re accurate, though the cliché is a little overblown considering there’s a winner in 99 percent of games.
Joe brings this all up because with Sunday’s win against the Jets, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield now has a 53-53 regular season record. The two-time Pro Bowler has climbed out of the losing ranks. (Fun fact: Bucs backup QB Teddy Bridgewater has a 33-32 record as a starter.)
And yes, Joe expects Baker Mayfield to keep winning. He’s got many prime years left to play and the Bucs have built a stunning offense around him.
Hopefully, Mayfield racks up the postseason wins, too.
Congrats, Baker!
September 23rd, 2025 at 10:59 am
Being a four year starter for the Browns and he is .500.
That’s impressive. I seriously would bet money that is a QB Club of 1.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:03 am
Really interesting perspective.
To me Joe Namath should not have gotten in.
His legend is great because he called the “win” and he was solid in that Super Bowl game, but it was more the running in that game of Snell and the great defense by the Jets that won that Super Bowl.
Namath record’s lifetime regular season record was under .500.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:04 am
And it’s not like anyone in Carolina has done better
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:13 am
If he had a coach who could play defense aggressively and close out games instead of gagging away multiple score leads, he’d have at least another 6 wins on that resume’ and that’s the minimum.
Maybe since that coach has no one to tell him that performance improvement is mandatory with some directives for action, Baker needs to be the one to tell him the truth.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:16 am
Baker should receive Hall of Fame status if he stays healthy and works hard. You know he will work hard so half the battle is won !!
Go Bucs Beat the Eagles !!
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:19 am
Baker is on a mission with this Bucs team. His demeanor speaks very loudly on that subject. Now, if he would just kindly learn to slide so he’ll be upright when all the Walking Wounded come back!
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:24 am
Bartow Buc Says:
Baker should receive Hall of Fame status if he stays healthy and works hard.
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Winning, or at least appearing in a Super Bowl would go a LONG way towards helping his cause. In the last 45 years only 2 QB’s that didn’t appear in a Super Bowl have made the HOF – Dan Fouts and Warren Moon. So it’s championship or bust for Baker Mayfield.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:30 am
We’re about to hit a buzzsaw in the schedule. Next 4 games are Eagles, Seahawks, 49ers, and Lions. This will be a real test for Baker. Hopefully, we can win at least 2 of those games and keep his W/L record tied up.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:31 am
Aqualung, true he might have had a few more wins if not for a Bowles gaffe or 2. Also true he may have 23 less wins if Bowles not taking the risk that he did that others would not. Bowles is the perfect head coach for Baker. Stefanski is a good coach. Never a hair out of place. Same with Berry, Cleveland GM. They oughta be on the cover of GQ. But definitely not coaching Mayfield. Same with their owner. They didn’t want anyone to be the face of their franchise. That was their job. Ego has no place in team sports. Especially in leadership positions.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:35 am
LouisFriend — The NFL selection committee emphasizes stories more than other professional leagues when deciding who gets into the HOF.
They like to think of it — again with the Joe Namath — do you want to tell the history of the league without including this guy.
So, yes — winning a Super Bowl will be a key for almost all the QB’s discussed in this generation.
Mike Evans record of consecutive 1000 yard seasons is a story that can be sold and make the difference for him over say Julio Jones who was a “higher name” for most of his career. (Not saying I see Jones that way — just the media favored him).
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:42 am
Joe,
I think much of Baker’s success can be directly tied to a Deva less receiver room.
Character counts!
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:43 am
Freaking jinx post!
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:45 am
At 0-0 Trask is also a .500 quarterback.
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:45 am
aqua
give it a rest!!!!!
had baker not lead the league in INTs and Fumbles last year, he could have more Ws…and that falls on him not bowles….
with that said, baker and bowles have learned a ton from last year…bowles is being aggressive while baker is being smarter with the ball…
GO BUCS!!!!
September 23rd, 2025 at 11:56 am
I’ve said it a couple of time now. Tom Brady had a fabulous year with the SB. The rest OK or not so good. Mayfield is the best QB Tampa has ever had, including TB.
Not saying TB is not the GOAT, but almost all of that was in New England.
September 23rd, 2025 at 12:19 pm
Took 4 teams and 106 starts but look at that.
A big part of Bakers success is because he’s on the most talented team he’s been on in his NFL career.
September 23rd, 2025 at 12:48 pm
Aquathong time to root for another team . We don’t need you or your negativity
September 23rd, 2025 at 12:50 pm
People like to say the best quarterbacks win and winning is mostly up to the quarterbacks and to a degree they are right but that is the simple version. The more complex version takes into consideration the HC, the staff and the GM and even the owners. Example I have been using for over 2 years now is Patrick Mahomes. He was given the best of all the above since being drafted. Well enough time has passed that their chances at the draft trough have been limited due to being good for so long. The results, Mahomes teammates are not as good as they have been in the past especially his line. They have been ranked in the top 5 forever. Well now their not and haven’t been for 2 years and it just happens that his play begin to suffer about that same time. We all know the OL is important but it’s not just important it is everything. Your run and pass game is ONLY as good as your OL. I don’t care who you are if your line isn’t blocking those beasts coming for you, you are dead in the water.
Now Baker Mayfield has had the worst of all the above or near the worst. He has never had the same OC 10 in 8 years. The team that drafted him was 1-31 and he took them to 11-5. Is he really the great quarterback? We don’t know how all that has affected him because no quarterback has ever done that before but we know continuity is a good thing and Baker has never had any of that.
The point being, everything has to be in place to win in the NFL and that is hard to do year in and year out and it’s not hard to know which teams have achieved that state of nirvana.
So the question is, was it the quarterback that made the superbowl team(s) or was it the organization already in place that made it happen?? Or maybe a combination of the 2…
September 23rd, 2025 at 12:56 pm
it is hard to decide between “the bucs have a lot of depth” and “mayfield is the best QB tampa has ever had” for the dumbest post of the day. maybe even tops for the week. sorry but that is stupid.
September 23rd, 2025 at 1:23 pm
Jimmy, “the Bucs have a lot of depth”. Takes a genius to figure out that being undefeated with not one OLine piece in place must have some pretty good depth. So your next assertion about “ mayfield is the best QB tampa has ever had” should make that decision easy. I guess since the franchise is the losingest in professional sports history chances are they haven’t had a bunch of great QBs. It’d have to be Brad Johnson I reckon. Hate to hand it to Brady. But what I’m trying to say jimmy is we’ve got quality depth and an expert QB. So it’s easy to see why you are having a hard time making the decision. It’s obvious our depth and our QB suck compared to the illustrious history of this club.
September 23rd, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Baker to the HOF?
Little chance. He’d need 4-5 Pro Bowl worthy seasons and a Super Bowl win.
Most Likely: Super Bowl
A possibility in the next 1-2 years.
Maybe: Pro Bowl Worthy Stats
Going to get more difficult with Evans decline/retirement.
Least Likely: 4-5 HOF Worthy Years
Spoiler alert – Baker’s 5’11, 215lbs, 30yo, dives head first body doesn’t hold up until 35yo.
September 23rd, 2025 at 1:55 pm
@slyPirate. Baker (listed at 6′ 1 “) OFFICIALLY measured 6′ 5/8″ at the NFL combine, so get out of here with the 5′ 11” statement.
September 23rd, 2025 at 2:03 pm
Geno711 Says:
LouisFriend — The NFL selection committee emphasizes stories more than other professional leagues when deciding who gets into the HOF.
They like to think of it — again with the Joe Namath — do you want to tell the history of the league without including this guy.
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I mostly agree with that, and I’m sure Ira Kaufman would if he read your comment. He’s a living wizard at telling a player’s story to HOF selection committees.
Joe Namath was kissed by the angels to be thrust into a moment in time where his personal swag would be rewarded. Without that single SB win and the ‘story’ with it, obviously he’s not a HOF player. But that’s apples and oranges compared to Baker’s future.
The NFL at this moment in time is FILLED with QB’s who will challenge for a spot in the HOF, right around the same time as Baker will one day. Baker’s going to be have some hurdles, because selection to the HOF is based on a player’s whole career and not just a piece of it. It’s tougher now to get in than it was in Namath’s time, due to the presence of more teams and more out of market media vying to get ‘their guy’ in first.
Championships are the difference maker. Will Matt Ryan make the HOF someday? Or Phillip Rivers? Their careers were full of wins and stats, but little playoff hardware. My money is against it, especially since Eli Manning wasn’t automatically added with 2 trophies and reasonably decent stats of his own.
That Mayfield faced adversity by being on bad teams isn’t much of an inducement to get in the HOF, even if he shines later. Those rotten years affected his W/L record and his stats, and it’ll be held against him by some writers who assign responsibility to QB’s for it. He’s going to need a Lombardi trophy (or two). He does have a good story, but it has to be balanced by the notion that the HOF is looking at his whole career, good or bad.
September 23rd, 2025 at 2:15 pm
Aqualung is amused that the Pom Pom brigade would prefer to ignore reality and pretend that 3-0 by the skin of a peach (6 points margin of victory total) against a combined 1-8 group of pretenders makes Bowels some kind of great coach. A real stellar defensive head coach would have won each of those games in victory formation because he would have choked them out. Not our guy.
It’s heartening to know reality annoys the Pom Pom brigade.
September 23rd, 2025 at 2:51 pm
Baker Mayfield wasnt suppose to win the Heisman because even talking about a walk-on winning it would be just laughable, BUT he did. He also wasn’t suppose to be good enough to play at the NCAA Division I level either. BUT he not only played at that level but dominated it so much that he has been voted twice as college footballs #1 quarterback of the 21st century. So laugh all you want but be smart and don’t put too much money on Baker not making the HOF. Unless you just have a lot of money to lose.
September 23rd, 2025 at 2:55 pm
If this were baseball, he would be 54-53 as he came in relief, down 14-0 in his first game.
And won
September 23rd, 2025 at 2:58 pm
@Davyboy
You’ve made a compelling argument for Baker making it to the College Hall of Fame. None of that matters in the NFL. Otherwise, names like Gino Toretta and Vinny Testeverde would adorn busts in Canton.
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:00 pm
He Broke the Creamsicle Curse with that game too!
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:03 pm
He was also never suppose to be a starter in the NFL again. Where do these people come from?? Bakers football life is full of “never will happens” BUT somehow they a l w a y s do.
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:04 pm
Louis, I’m not saying he will. I’m just saying I wouldn’t put much money against it.
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:23 pm
Nobody pays attention to QBs Win/loss record – it’s not a stat that even makes any sense with the criteria it’s based on
mayfield took over and led browns to a win down 14-0 when he took over, yet Taylor gets credit for that win
Everyone saw him lead rams to comeback, after not starting the first series. , doesn’t get credit for that win
On flip side numerous QBs start then never finished and got credit for win
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:24 pm
Quaterback won/loss record is, for the most part, a useless stat.
Using Mayfield as an example:
On September 20, 2018 Mayfield made his debut. He entered the game with Cleveland trailing the Jets 14-0. Tyrod Taylor started the game and left with an injury. Mayfield led the Browns to a 21-17 win.
Who was credited with the win on their personal stat line? Tyrod Taylor….the starter.
On December 8, 2022 Mayfield made his debut as a Los Angeles Ram. He entered the game after one series of downs. John Wolford started and played the first series of downs. After trailing during the game,Mayfield led the Rams to a 17-16 win over the Raiders.
Who was credited with the win on their personal stat line? John Wolford….the starter.
There are, no doubt, numerous similar scenarios. The Bucs could start Vita Vea under center for one snap, bring in Mayfield, and Vea would be the recipient of the subsequent win/loss.
QB won/loss record just doesn’t indicate all that much without knowing the context surrounding it.
At least baseball gets the won/loss designee correct based on who is pitching when the outcome of the game is decided.
As for Namath…..he was the first QB topass for more than 4000 yards, so he has that going for him also. If you look at just the stats for several of the old school HOF QBs, there are many who don’t appear all that impressive….Terry Bradshaw comes to mind….
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:26 pm
**he was the first QB to pass**
….my space bar sticks sometimes
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:29 pm
Unreal that the Browns got rid of Baker except it is the Browns.
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:35 pm
Actually Louis, comparing Bakers college career to Geno’s and Vinny’s isn’t that much of a comparison to be honest.
September 23rd, 2025 at 3:58 pm
Davyboy is one of the most irritating of the male cheerleaders. A slobber knocker extraordinaire! We all get it you’re madly in love with the man but must you force your man crush on us constantly?? He’s found his team and has won over most of us who didn’t quite believe in him. The man is a dawg, baller and great all around dude.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:03 pm
Davyboy Says:
Actually Louis, comparing Bakers college career to Geno’s and Vinny’s isn’t that much of a comparison to be honest.
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It’s an analogy Davy, understand? But again, if you’re making a case for Mayfield to be in the College Football HOF you’ll get no argument here. The rest of it in the NFL has a very long way for him to go.
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:10 pm
Well I’m glad you FINALLY wised up. It took long enough. I remember you BigBuc, you said Baker would cause people to lose their jobs he was so bad. That was a real bit of intelligence wasn’t it? Hasn’t Baker done exactly the opposite of what you said would happen here in Tampa? It was. He actually helped 2 coaches get HC positions. So you just need to listen to those that know football talent and not type so much, ya think…
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:11 pm
Oh, it’s an anology!!!
September 23rd, 2025 at 4:19 pm