Cutting Down On Turnovers
February 24th, 2026
Accepting bad with the good.
Look, Joe can live with Baker Mayfield’s German shorthaired pointer puppy approach to football. It’s exciting and fun and it galvanizes the Bucs.
But it also leads to injuries and, worse, turnovers.
That’s the only conclusion Joe can reach after seeing this ugly stat on Mayfield. Apparently, he was responsible for 88 percent of all Bucs turnovers last season. That’s not good. That was the highest of any player for any NFL team.
But if you neuter Mayfield’s playing style, you have also neutered his effectiveness. Mayfield is a lesser player when he doesn’t play his way.
For example, last year Mayfield had 11 picks and 11 fumbles. In 2024, Mayfield led the NFL in picks (16) and fumbles (14) yet threw for 4,500 yards (third in NFL) and was second in the NFL in touchdowns (41).
So with Mayfield, you have to take the bad with the good. You pretty much have to accept he eventually will get dinged up, and he will turn the ball over.
The riddle here is, can those elements be toned down without cutting off Mayfield’s sack (production)?
It’s a delicate balance.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:16 am
7 of those guys on the list were on playoff teams, so is this a big deal? Baker is fine. We need defense.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:24 am
True. But you need points to win games. Second half of the season, our offense couldn’t get it done . No team wins like that.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:26 am
Give him a defense where he doesn’t always have to play catch up and the turnovers will decrease.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:27 am
“But here is the trick with Mayfield: If you neuter his playing style, you have also neutered his effectiveness. Mayfield is a lesser player when he doesn’t play his way.“
Pretty sure the word here should be improve. You do enough of a bad thing you don’t just shrug your shoulders and go about it the way you have been without at least considering ways to be better and expecting the bad thing to improve.
Maybe, Mayfield can improve his game to be more efficient, consistent, & less volatile from the pocket. Oh, and improve against man coverage as he’s got his NFL life to play for in 2026. Can’t stink it up and expect Tampa to remain home.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:28 am
That was also my first observation, BA. Seems like Baker is in pretty good company.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:43 am
Fix the defense so he does not have to play ‘catch up. MOST losses this season were on Todd’s side of the ball NOT holding a lead.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:50 am
Deeboooo. You’re gonna have to correct your “no team wins like that” statement. The Super Bowl champs had a QB that led the league in picks. Oh yeah, and seven of those QBs on the list made the playoffs. And Joe, fumbles aren’t always turnovers. You can do better than that.
February 24th, 2026 at 9:55 am
Wow definitely a lot like Brett Farve, which has been said by a few in the past
February 24th, 2026 at 10:03 am
“The Super Bowl champs had a QB that led the league in picks. Oh yeah, and seven of those QBs on the list made the playoffs. And Joe, fumbles aren’t always turnovers.“
Framing this like sucking is what got them to the SB for the sake of comparison is hilarious
More “yea buts” plz
February 24th, 2026 at 10:03 am
Keaton, my ‘no team wins like that’ reference is in terms of offense scoring points, not interceptions. Sorry if it was confusing.
And I don’t think bakers interceptions are due to him playing catch up due to a Todd Bowles defense. Baker has always thrown a lot of picks, it’s who he is – much like Farve
February 24th, 2026 at 10:04 am
When your desperate, because your defense cant make a stop,you force things trying to make a play,as far as fumbles im sure the protection broke down,its not like was running down field and just dropped the ball..I would change a thing about baker hes a playmaker with heart!
February 24th, 2026 at 10:06 am
Dee,captain obvious!
February 24th, 2026 at 10:12 am
It’s about when those turnovers happen. Can’t be turning the ball over on would be game winning/tying drives.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:23 am
That stat seems to indicate teams without a lot of fumblers. Eleven INTs is not so bad, but they need to protect him better to cut down on qb fumbles. He seemed panicky at times.
The offensive line is job one. It should be the strength of the team if it gets healthy.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:30 am
Once, Tom Brady threw 3 interceptions in one game (I think it was against Green Bay). The defence did not allow GB to get ANY points off them. Do you guys remember that?
February 24th, 2026 at 10:35 am
A stupid stat! What happens if other players like RB’s, WR’s, TE’s fumble? What happens if you have OL injuries and the QB gets stripped of the ball?
February 24th, 2026 at 10:36 am
Baker will be 32 years old this year when the season starts he is who he is at this point of his career. He’s a bridge quarterback and you can’t give him more than 2 years at this point if he plays good. But he throws late 4th quarters picks that losses games or keep the other teams in the game. This is why he’s 1-9 in prime time games and go look at the scores of those games other than the Rams games the second half of the season. The Seahawks played the same way we did against the Rams and Sam Donald kept them in the game why because he can actually see over the line. And he didn’t throw no picks the whole game and that’s why they won .
February 24th, 2026 at 10:43 am
Remember, 2 of those interceptions were screwjob calls where the ball was pulled away from Otton….
Sooooo, he really only had 9 interceptions..
February 24th, 2026 at 10:54 am
Oneilbuc. He’s 30 years old. You learned your arithmetic at the same school that taught you grammar. To be fair, you did finish at the top of your class.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:56 am
One could argue the Falcons lost the division because they lost a game to the Jets where the Falcons dominated every statistical category except they made 1 costly turnover on a punt that gave the Jets an easy TD and that was the difference in the game.
OLine health and effectiveness will be key to Bucs managing turnovers and points scored.
February 24th, 2026 at 10:57 am
For the 137th time, Baker is the same height as Drew Brees. Drew Brees had a pro Bowl interior line to counteract that
February 24th, 2026 at 11:13 am
Baker is on the Gene Smith path, living off one big year, which looks like that year had more to do with Cohen than anticipated, the rest of his career has been meh, the media says Geno is a really good quarterback, but he’s average at best
February 24th, 2026 at 11:17 am
Probably not the popular opinion right now, but Canales worked with Baker on getting the ball out in under 2.5 seconds a few years ago and I think that may be a way to get Baker to play within a bit more of a comfort zone for the team. He was still agressive but seemed less likely to give up his body and or the football.
Go Bucs!
February 24th, 2026 at 11:31 am
Guzzie55. Being an OU fan I watched Geno Smith playing at WVirginia plenty of times and I can’t really agree with a single thing you just said. He set the all time NFL record for TD passes as a rookie and won 7 games that same year with a team coming off 1-31 the previous 2 years. By his third year he’d won 11 games plus a playoff game. His second year the idiot Browns hired a new head coach and for Cleveland they still had a great season. His 4th year was his broken shoulder year and still it was pure warrior mode. 5th year was on Browns roster til March, then Panthers and Rams. Last 3 years with the Bucs. 3 solid years. In fact Guzzie55, I don’t think you have a clue what you’re talking about comparing a first pick Heismann winner to Geno Smith. Mayfield has similar or better statistics for his first 8 years in the league than all QBs in the hall of fame. Are you sure your handle is guzzie55 or is it guzzle55?
February 24th, 2026 at 11:38 am
Mayfield is 27-24 in the regular season as a Buc. And 1-2 in the playoffs.
That is a total of 28-26 overall. Just barely above the 500 mark.
And that is all he will ever be in the NFL. Facts over feelings.
Those other QBs on the list also had DC’s capable of scheming a cogent game plan.
In Baker’s defense, he has a huge hole to overcome in Bowles as the HC\DC.
No NFL QB could turn that into a successful season. Bowles is pure trash.
February 24th, 2026 at 11:40 am
Guzzie55. In Geno Smith’s first 8 years in the league he had 29 td passes and 36 interceptions. And he had thrown for a grand total of 6300 yards. Truly Guzzle55, you should be ostracized from this point on concerning any comment you post.
February 24th, 2026 at 11:40 am
we are stuck w him
franchise qb
still hasn’t won the big playoff game here, did not put the team on his back and win any during the 2-7 collapse- he could have single handedly got us to the playoffs, should have called more audibles, scored more points, won more games, so dumb
wish him the best but he’s not TB
February 24th, 2026 at 11:49 am
Excuses and more excuses for this guy. Lol…some of yall act like the Bucs played from behind all season long in every game. There were games when the Bucs had the lead or were down less than a TD and he still gave the ball away. Especially in the 4th quarter.
By the way, he’s had a 4th quarter turnover in the last 2 playoff losses. Baker fans don’t care about that, they love losing watching their lord and savior play.
Its ok, no excuses this season. When Baker leads this team to a top 10 pick then he can go be some other teams problem. So Baker fans, what jersey will you be wearing next? Cardinals? Colts?
February 24th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
Running for your life after 0.5 seconds the entire game can wear any man down. The 4th quarter interceptions are concerning but I do believe that is fixable. Is it all on QB? Perhaps. WR miscommunication. OC play calling? Perhaps. Entire offense lost its mojo somehow. Find the mojo and all will be well.
February 24th, 2026 at 12:13 pm
Goff was one point less. The solution is to grab Marriotta in Free agency so he can spell Baker when he is hurt.
February 24th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
That thing in the Washington playoff game, I don’t see why Baker was charged for a fumble when McMillan actually ran into him
February 24th, 2026 at 12:21 pm
Correct me if I am wrong but I think you can lay 2 of those picks at the feet of Cade Otton.
Lions and Rams games… those went as picks against Baker didn’t they? They were clearly Ottons fault.