No More “Tough Guy” Chatter About Baker Mayfield
November 11th, 2026
Terrible slump.
Let Joe be clear here.
When it comes to intangibles, the Joe typing this here story thinks there is no quarterback in the league with the possible exception of Josh Allen, who has better intangibles than Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.
If someone had to draw up the desired personality traits of a quarterback, Mayfield would be a poster child for that. His intangibles, Joe believes, are through the roof.
He’s a dawg. He’s tough. He fights. He battles. His teammates love him. Fans adore the ‘tude. He plays through injuries. He’ll gladly hand the ball off 55 times in a game if that helps the team win. He has the biggest heart around. He wears his emotions on his sleeve.
There is nothing not to like or admire with Mayfield when it comes to his intangibles.
But at some point, even with all those intangibles, there comes a point where the quarterback has to deliver wins. Doesn’t matter if he has to throw 400 yards in a game, doesn’t mean he has to hand the ball off 60 times to running backs, doesn’t mean he has to run for 200 yards.
That some point, Joe believes, arrived in Chicago on Sunday night.
The offense was truly miserable and threw away maybe the greatest defensive effort Joe has ever seen in a Bucs game. The Bucs offense just shat all over it. Just disgusting.
Winning. That’s what quarterbacks are judged on. Winning. It’s why they get paid. It’s why they get all the accolades. And it’s why they have to take the arrows when the losses pile up.
For Mayfield, the losses over the past 13 months have piled up much higher than the wins. Since Mayfield probably had one of his best games of his career when he sliced apart Seattle’s defense on the road, the future Super Bowl winner, and followed that up by putting the Bucs on his back to overcome so many injuries to his weapons and guide the Bucs to a win (with deserved chants of “MVP… MVP” echoing in The Licht House), Mayfield has been a flat out mess.
Mayfield actually had an OK game at Miami where he threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns — but also had three turnovers, including two picks in a 20-17 loss.
In the 20 games since Mayfield led the Bucs to a win over San Francisco last season, Mayfield has started 17 games. He’s 3-14 as a starter in that span. That’s encroaching on Blake Bortles territory.
Joe doesn’t know what has happened to Mayfield since the win over San Francisco. His downfall has been dramatic. (The PFF tribe ranks Mayfield as the No. 32 most-accurate quarterback.)
At times, Mayfield has been hurt. And it seems he was also playing hurt at Chicago on Sunday night, in addition to his dislocated thumb on his throwing hand that he has mentioned may not be 100 percent until after the season.
Joe wrote on Sunday night that Mayfield is broken. And Joe’s not talking about his thumb. His only decent game in the past 13 months — and it was a loss in part due to his turnovers — that’s not good. And that streak cannot nor should be brushed off as “he’s fighting through injuries.”
If he’s injured, get him off the field and put someone on the field who isn’t injured. The adoration of Mayfield playing because “he’s a tough guy” and “he has heart” must end — unless giving Mayfield such a bloated contract was a deviously hatched idea to tank the season and draft C.J. Carr.
It’s nice to be a tough guy and battle through injuries, but Mayfield is on the field for one purpose and one purpose only: to win games. Period.
Joe cannot take the excuses any longer that he’s hurt or he’s playing through an injury. That’s great for boy scouts or high school players. But this is the NFL.
At some point, and preferably sooner than later, the Bucs’ $165 Million Dollar Man has to start producing wins. If that means he has to sit out and heal, so be it.
Otherwise, there are a bunch of guys currently working at One Buc Palace who will be out of work in two months.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:10 am
“When it comes to intangibles, the Joe typing this here story thinks there is no quarterback in the league with the possible exception of Josh Allen, who has better intangibles than Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.”
You got to let this one go, Joe. Just look around the league over the bye, and then come back to this statement. Personality traits have no bearing on talent and how it translates to performance on the football field, this ain’t “The Bachelor”. What are the on-field intangibles?
“Mayfield actually had an OK game at Miami where he threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns — but also had three turnovers, including two picks in a 20-17 loss.”
Brother, there’s nothing “OK” about the guy touching the ball every play coughing it up more than he’s generating points in a game you only score 17 point. 1 FG instead any of those 3 giveaways and maybe we’re talking about that game differently. The Dolphins game is a good example of this teams’ “how to lose a game” formula. Zac Robinson inherited this.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:27 am
I am a Big Baker fan, but his play is becoming harder and harder to defend. The numbers do not lie. It looks like he is not the long-term solution that we were all hoping for. Might be time to Draft a Future QB if this season continues to implode and we are able to Draft a real Future QB prospect. Sad but True.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:39 am
They paid him too much money. No results for the invesment.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Baker keeps slumping then we will draft a QB. He’s playing terrible.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Ppl need to throw this rught in his face. Hold his ass accountable. You wanted to chirp all off-season and run your mouth. No you’re gonna hear how bad u suck till you don’t and guve ys what we paid for
November 11th, 2026 at 7:45 am
He played hurt his last year in Cleveland. Played when he should have sat and it hurt him and it hurt that team. Fans and the media there drove him out of town. Same thing is happening now. If he learned anything there, he should admit he’s hurt now and that it is affecting his pay, sit however long he needs to until he’s 100% and let the season play out. And when Daniels is playing, for gawds sake Robinson, NO sideline out passes!!!
November 11th, 2026 at 7:47 am
It’s not just Mayfield….our entire offense is weak.
WRs dropping passes & not getting open
Oline not pass protecting & committing penalties
Play calling very poor
I agree that Mayfield contributes to the failure but many QBs would struggle with this offense.
And, the loss of Mike Evans may be having a huge impact …
November 11th, 2026 at 7:50 am
The majority of people who comment on here have never played football a day in their lives. Let’s be honest and clear about Baker play. When he drops back he very seldom has a clean pocket that makes it difficult to find a rhythm. We lead the league in dropped passes per opportunity so when he does get it out on time our wr drop it way to often again hard to get in kind of. allow like that. Last point its you say he holds onto the ball to long but nobody is barely ever open go watch any 10 passing plays from any game you will so the WR just don’t get open. Baker is struggling more because of the players around him than it is about him.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:53 am
I just saw a quarterback epa per drop back graphic and currently Baker is the worst qb in the league. Yeah, even worse than Herbert. And he’s getting paid like a top 3. Wow, just wow..
November 11th, 2026 at 7:54 am
Which ever Joe who wrote this story
.
APPLY the same logic and reasoning to
Jason Licht
and
Todd Bowels!
November 11th, 2026 at 7:58 am
Well said, Joe.
November 11th, 2026 at 7:59 am
Baker is a bad NFL currently and the excuses are getting ridiculous…
November 11th, 2026 at 7:59 am
*Baker is a bad NFL QB currently and the excuses are getting ridiculous…
November 11th, 2026 at 8:02 am
It seems like Todd has elected to go down with the burning ship. Who knows, maybe they tried to trade Baker yesterday and nobody wanted him. Many bad them not to sign Baker to a huge contract coming off of two and seven finish of the year. But then there were those who said that Baker was out of franchise quarterback, and our franchise quarterback needed to get paid. How’s that working out for you?
They should start letting 10 play. But it’s just like Todd to leave his best players on the bench. Hopefully we have only two more months of this miserable offense. I’m just gonna continue enjoying the excellent defense and watch in horror as these historic efforts are wasted.