Baker Mayfield, Losses And Drops
October 1st, 2026
Victim?
If this number was just two or three passes lower, would the Bucs be 2-1?
The two Joes don’t like when coaches lean on one-score losses as a reason they should not be blamed for doing a bad job. The NFL is not college football. There are no style points. You either win and you are great or you lose and you suck.
The Joe typing here is a little more tolerant; the Joe not typing here is fully intolerant of the one-score excuse.
Look, the Bucs are a bad team. Fans can all agree. As Bill Parcells once famously said, “You are what your record says you are.” The record tells Joe the Bucs aren’t good enough to get a win (or cover) until proven otherwise.
However, there is one play that was the difference between winning and losing. Two Sundays ago Baker Mayfield hit Ted Hurst perfectly on a pass late in the game that would have beaten the Browns. However, in the rain, Hurst couldn’t hold on.
Joe’s not going to rag on a rookie. Besides, there are so many Bucs mistakes that it’s difficult to finger Hurst as the sole reason for the loss.
Over at the PFF tribe, they have a list of quarterbacks who have suffered the most drops after three games. Mayfield ranks second in the league withs even.
Jordan Love, the Packers quarterback who the Bucs will face on Sunday, leads the league in dropped passes with nine.
Is it fair to suggest that the Bucs are perhaps two key drops away from being, oh, 2-1?
Most passes that were dropped by receiver this season
Jordan Love 9
Baker Mayfield 7
Aaron Rodgers 6
Patrick Mahomes 5
Tyler Shough 5
Malik Willis 5
Matthew Stafford 5 pic.twitter.com/tUpqTlfAU2— PFF (@PFF) September 29, 2026
October 1st, 2026 at 12:14 am
Dropped passes are part of the game that you hate. But those are not enough to blame for losing. That same game, about 3 minutes earlier, our defense had a broken coverage and allowed a tight end to run 20 yards on third down untouched for the game winner. Those kind of mental blunders get you beat.
Yes, I think the defense is better. But we are gonna need them to be better. And alot better if we’re going to get this season turned around.
October 1st, 2026 at 12:16 am
Oh boy…. Enter Darth Munch to destroy this premise in …3…2…1…
October 1st, 2026 at 12:17 am
Baker failing to make a much easier throw to a wide open e2 in the end zone following that Hurst “drop” is the issue.
A franchise QB should be able to throw 2 good passes in a row, and the pass to e2 wasn’t even something that needed to be good, it just needed to be decent, a pass a ‘franchise QB’ is expected to make 100 out of 100 times. Heck a middling QB is expected to make that throw 100 out of 100 times.
No idea how Hurst, on a wet field, failing making a difficult contested catch where he was being interfered with lets Baker off the hook for missing a wide open player to win the game.
October 1st, 2026 at 12:18 am
So has Baker said one word since last Sunday? Did I miss his presser?
October 1st, 2026 at 12:20 am
Todd can’t tackle. Todd can’t throw. Todd can’t catch. Todd can’t protect the ball. Todd can’t stay onsides. All of these are PLAYER mistakes. That said, when ALL of these things happen CONSISTENTLY (drops, turnovers, penalties, missed tackles, missed blocks, etc.), that is a COACHING problem. All of our mistakes (drops, turnovers, penalties, missed tackles, missed blocks, etc.) are SYMPTOMS of the PROBLEM. The PROBLEM is BAD COACHING. When all the coaches are replaced EXCEPT the HC, and the mistakes persist, the SYMPTOMS persist, then it is time to fix the PROBLEM. Todd Bowles needs to be let go. I believe this team can turn it around and win the Division, and possibly go on a playiff run if, and only if, Todd is held accountable and fired NOW. That level of accountability will send a SHOCKWAVE through the locker room. Until then, it is what it is.
All that said, GO BUCS! I’m genuinely excited to see Jalon strap it up and give us his best Willie Beamen impression! LFG!
October 1st, 2026 at 12:23 am
Munchestilallhoursofthenight. A QB not hitting an open guy is kind of like a receiver dropping a ball. Those don’t get you beat. Seven offensive line infractions often will. Read my previous post, Rod. Might as well learn a little about the game of football if you’re gonna stay up half the night trolling.
October 1st, 2026 at 12:35 am
Some numbers… It’s almost like one area of the team sticks out above all the others…
Bucs defensive rankings:
Defense, yards: 6th
Defense, passing yards: 9th
Defense, rushing yards: 2nd
EXP points (basically an overall ranking): 5th
Bucs offensive rankings:
Offense, yards: 19th
Passing yards: 26th
Passing, yards per attempt: 27th
Passer rating: 30th
Passing EXP: 32nd
Rushing yards: 19th
Rushing, yards per attempt: 12th
Rushing EXP: 13th
October 1st, 2026 at 12:45 am
Many things are wrong with this team but it all starts with the coach and the quarterback. Let’s just say Sunday is going to be one of the more revealing Bucs games in a while.
October 1st, 2026 at 12:54 am
Injured players are not required to speak — and, honestly, are strongly encouraged not to speak.
October 1st, 2026 at 1:31 am
You could’ve stopped at the Parcells line. You are who your record says you are. Excuses are like….. , everyone has them. If you want to know why the Bucs have been as poor/mediocre as they have been since todd took over, just need to watch the New Heights Kelce boys’ podcast with Brady from back in July (Episode #198). There’s a 10-minute clip on FB where Tom speaks to how he became whow he is. Amazing stuff, and it just speaks to how much the Bucs lost when he left with his mindset and it was replaced by todd’s apathetic style.
October 1st, 2026 at 1:35 am
Todd Bowles is the Vince Lombardi of one score losses.
If that doesn’t bother you then keep on enjoying this 2-10 stretch run to the SB.
The HC\DC will never let you down if the bar is set that low.
Welcome to the suck.
October 1st, 2026 at 1:36 am
It also speaks to a reason behind why the offense responded to Coen the way they did, and how that affect has followed him to Jax and been absorbed by the entire team. The fact that the Glazers couldn’t see the value of keeping that mindset in the building after having it twice and letting it go really doesn’t give much hope to them having a 3rd shot at it and getting it done.
October 1st, 2026 at 1:40 am
Blake Says:
October 1st, 2026 at 12:20 am
Todd can’t coach.
October 1st, 2026 at 3:35 am
Never Baker’s fault?
October 1st, 2026 at 5:19 am
Blake says it best! When there are this many issues (still no one brings up the special teams) then it is on coaching. The head coach and the QB are about the only things unchanged from last year and only one of them is in charge of this team.
October 1st, 2026 at 6:15 am
Let em bake Says:
October 1st, 2026 at 12:16 am
Oh boy…. Enter Darth Munch to destroy this premise in …3…2…1…
Hahahaha lol PERFECT!
October 1st, 2026 at 6:16 am
Here’s the thing with these BUCS. Even if they manage to score a few points the defense will play just exactly well enough to lose anyway. Mind you, the Browns game was not on TV here in Orlando so no, I technically didn’t actually watch it. I listened to it. At some point in the third quarter we were ten points ahead. By the time the monsoons came we were seven points behind. When the Browns were down they came back and torched our defense. When we were behind we choked the chicken. I don’t need fancy math or quantum analysis to figure out why we lost. This team sucks. I’m not going to bother measuring the angle of the dangle. I’m just going to look at the scoreboard. I’ve got ten fingers and ten toes and one pecker so I seldom have a problem counting the BUCS points.
October 1st, 2026 at 6:44 am
Shough second rated QB in NFL Baker well twenty first. This was the worst move in Jason Licht tenure signing him to a 165 million dollar contract. What was he thinking?
October 1st, 2026 at 7:02 am
Can Cade Otten get a pair of gloves?
October 1st, 2026 at 7:53 am
Kenton. Baker is a backup quarterback and I’ve told you and tge rest of the Baker fan boys. The bucs must draft a quarterback this year and if they don’t the stadium will remain a home field advantage for the other teams the bucs play. I told yall the bucs will never win or go to a superbowl with Baker but still it’s NFC championship or bust no more excuses it’s year 4 and plus he got over paid.
October 1st, 2026 at 7:53 am
AND THE REST OF THE FAN BOYS
October 1st, 2026 at 8:40 am
Baker is like Mike Evans..fed up with bowles and a new oc every year ..baker is the bucs best chance to win ..bowles is lazy and unmotivated..and arians needs to butt out ..Sadly glazers dont really care..so another wasted year ,itsr eally impossible to be a fan anymore..
October 1st, 2026 at 8:57 am
The quarterback difference of receiver drops is insignificant. The Bucs are playing football like its there first time at it.
October 1st, 2026 at 9:02 am
Oneilbuc; back up quarterbacks don’t throw for 41tds over 4500yds, have a 72% completion percentage and a QB rating of 106.8 for year! That’s the QB the Bucs signed, he didn’t forget how to play football in 24 months…but a certain someone left this team in a lurch and is now doing fantastic things with another so called bust and not worth the money QB! Interesting how competent coaching and schemes help
October 1st, 2026 at 9:52 am
I agree with bill. You are what your record says but there is an underlining truth. You could play some good football and still lose to a better team or if it’s a dog fight and the other team just gets a better break then it’s not so bad taking a loss. That’s my opinion of course but that is not the Bucs. We have not seen any good football for a long time now. Bucs are a bad team.
October 1st, 2026 at 11:54 am
Rod Munch’s arguments are so ridiculous at this point that I gotta assume he’s attempting to be the ultimate troll master. Lol! I mean, he can’t actually be serious, right?
He tries to make points on 50/50 arguments that can go either way and just picks the side that fits his narrative. Lol! Yeah, and if Hurst catches that pass, we win and Mayfield doesn’t have to overthrow the ball to Egbuka, which was a tighter window than you would like to admit.
But hey, I’m not defending either one. I will equally blame both of them. This team just can’t seem to connect the dots ever and actually make plays. It’s just not a good team, even with whatever QB of your choice you’d like to plug in, Rod. There are just too many things, too many variables that are affecting this team, including Baker. But all you ever do is go, “Blah, blah, blah, Baker!” like somehow this whole team doesn’t stink on almost every level. And then you throw out these stupid numbers, like we’re not all watching the entire game. And the stats don’t always tell the complete story, like PFF saying we have a #2 o-line, and then leading the league in sacks given up.
But then Rod will just go, “Blah, blah, blah, Baker, happy feet! It his fault! 2 seconds more than enough time! Blah, blah, there’s someone open every time downfield! He should see them every time in 2 seconds while the pocket is crumbling, blah, blah!”
The thing is, you never hold any of the other guys as accountable as you do him, and this whole schtick has gotten old and redundant. Sure, blame him. But you gotta blame all of the other stuff that is not good as well. And quit this trolling act, because nobody’s buying it. You have some weird obsession with not liking Mayfield, and that’s the only thing you ever focus on. But don’t worry, Rod. I’m sure everything will be cleaned up by Sunday, and we will beat the Packers, who are just about as bad as we are in every category. And then you can tell us how Daniels is such a breath of fresh air, even though Green Bay is terrible and we should beat them, especially if Daniels is that good. And then we’ll beat Dallas in primetime and he’ll be the new starter because every problem we had was because of just Baker, and now the puzzle will be solved, Rod.
And then you can go, “Blah, blah, blah, Rod Munch right all along!”
October 1st, 2026 at 1:33 pm
No matter what @Joe will defend this bum. Even tho he’s done nothing for this team but run his mouth
October 1st, 2026 at 2:54 pm
BUCDADDY Says:
October 1st, 2026 at 11:54 am
Rod Munch’s arguments are so ridiculous at this point that I gotta assume he’s attempting to be the ultimate troll master. Lol! I mean, he can’t actually be serious, right?
He tries to make points on 50/50 arguments that can go either way and just picks the side that fits his narrative. Lol! Yeah, and if Hurst catches that pass, we win and Mayfield doesn’t have to overthrow the ball to Egbuka, which was a tighter window than you would like to admit.
———
It was an underthrow you moron.
Also, the argument is a franchise QB should be able to make 2 good throws in a row. The Baker Boi(s) – which you’re one of – claim that is asking too much.
BTW, dummy, you’re literally making my point on why Baker is not a franchise QB in defending him.
October 1st, 2026 at 3:55 pm
Who is the “bum” you are referring to?
Mayfield? Hell, Joe can’t count how many stories/podcast episodes he wrote/said he wouldn’t re-sign Mayfield until after the 2026 season. (The “other Joe” wanted him re-signed ASAP.)
Yeah, Joe has defended Mayfield so much Joe spoke on the Ira Kaufman Podcast how the Bucs might be able to get out from under that contract and draft a quarterback.
If that sounds like a defense to you, then you and Joe have a far different definition of “defend.”
October 1st, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Nobody’s defending his mistakes, idiot. I call them out as well. Your basis for every single argument when we lose always centers around him, even when a lot of other things stink on this team. The pass rush, when we’re not all out blitzing stinks. It’s kinda early, but Reuben Bain already looks like a waste of a pick since he’s made absolutely no impact and had like one or two tackles in one game. Meanwhile, Sonny Styles is already delivering in Washington, so don’t give me that rookie excuse.
Parrish literally falls down like a bumbling idiot to give up a free TD.
The special teams still sucks.
This defense misses tackles as much as they ever have and fails to cover the short, underneath stuff regularly.
Robinson can’t draw up a decent offensive strategy to get receivers open. Either that, or Egbuka is just not a #1 receiver that can get open. Godwin gets at most 3 to 5 receptions a game. And no, receivers are not open all the time like you like to pretend, dummy.
The o-line is the worst it’s ever looked, getting beat constantly.
Even Bucky’s numbers aren’t exactly spectacular.
And lastly, Baker can’t seem to protect the ball, let alone find the sweet spot when we finally do have an open receiver now the field once every ten or so plays. And if he does, they drop it, or the o-line gets a holding call.
So the difference is, I call out everything, stupid.