The Instant-Classic Baker Mayfield Scramble
January 4th, 2026
So Baker Mayfield finished the 2025 season with 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and 3,693 yards passing.
And he sure looked healthy yesterday against the Panthers — seeking contact and extending plays.
Yes, Mayfield’s production dropped significantly from the 2025 season. Joe tried to warn the masses and insiders, who seemed to think Mayfield was a sure bet to improve after throwing 41 touchdowns and 4,500 yards in 2024 while completing a whopping 71.4 percent of his passes.
The 2024 season was a Hall of Fame-caliber year from Mayfield complementing an elite running game. To expect that again was unfair, especially with a first-time playcaller.
Yesterday, Mayfield threw another ugly interception, his ninth in the last eight games. But Mayfield also showcased his grit and fight to the extreme. He scrambled successfully, as usual, and delivered a nine-second scramble in the rain before finding Cade Otton for a critical second-quarter completion on third down.
Words can’t do it justice, so Joe added the video below. Enjoy!
Baker magic šŖ
CARvsTB on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/L3ECkqBgMVā NFL (@NFL) January 3, 2026
January 4th, 2026 at 1:34 am
They need an AI version of Monte Kiffin to run the D.
January 4th, 2026 at 1:49 am
Baker is a gamer. Team success is directly proportional to the quality of the offensive coordinator he has. Grizzard aināt that dude and we all know it. Too bad we wonāt get an offensive coordinator thatās worth two squirts of piss as long as Toad is still the head coach
January 4th, 2026 at 1:54 am
I think people also need to take into perspective itās a bit of a down year for a lot of QBs in general. His final stats arenāt out of line with quite a few prominent QBs.
He was banged up this year, offense as a whole was and the OC did not do any favors but he is not the Bucs issues and willed them to several wins this year.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:01 am
todd bowles is a team killer
January 4th, 2026 at 2:15 am
Yesterday, Mayfield threw another ugly interception, his ninth in the last eight games. But Mayfield also showcased his grit and fight to the extreme.
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The offense didn’t even get to the 17 point mark that Warren Sapp wanted … I’d be a bit more conservative in my praise.
With that said, outside of that awful, inexcusable, terrible INT – I thought Baker looked a lot better, the best he’s looked in two months – and the team still just put up 16 points. But, it was encouraging. If the Bucs make the playoffs, they will almost certainly face the Rams, and we know how that ends. But hopefully Baker shows up and has a big day and at least makes a game out of it.
January 4th, 2026 at 5:14 am
Holy you know what this take is so poor. Joe is going to go on record that mayfield played well?
Lookā¦heās playing hurt, for a def head coach, with two backup guards and has had to adjust to a different group of receivers every week. I get it. I really do.
But if you actually review his history, hurt and late in games picks is his thing.
Bowles needs to go. And an offensive HC needs to follow. Thatās the only way weāll know if baker can get there.
January 4th, 2026 at 5:30 am
Baker did well, and on a very wet field and other factors. He did have some bad moments too. But overall, he stayed true to his grit to get it done. You can bet other teams would love to have Baker right now. We need Baker, and we also need a solid backup behind him.
January 4th, 2026 at 6:33 am
Dang! Munch made sense!
January 4th, 2026 at 6:54 am
I wonder if these other teams have a “rod muncher” on their blog sites? baker carried the team on his back once again. Gee, they barely won the game? Ok. But guess what? They won
January 4th, 2026 at 7:08 am
Well, outside of that ugly pick (it was across the field, AND the line, his vision was likely obscured) you just don’t see high scoring games in the rain
January 4th, 2026 at 7:32 am
āYesterday, Mayfield threw another ugly interception, his ninth in the last eight gamesā
Hard to win games with this type of behavior
January 4th, 2026 at 7:47 am
There are only a few QB outliers this year Stafford, Goff, Maye, Prescott. Bakerās stats notwithstanding the injuries, new OC(again) are identical to Allen, Herbert, MaHomes. Have heard the unceasing criticism on these pages all season which have been unfair. Donāt think Stafford could have held up playing behind 3 string NFL guards as well as injuries at various times to both Wirfs and Goedeke. Watching other teams give their QB ample time to eat a sandwich while looking over the field is a luxury Baker deserves at this point in his career. Through it all he never complains. The biggest complainers are the Boys in the Band headed by Rod Munch who just keep trying to prove a point. Munch cares little about whether Bucs win or lose. He just has a I told you so fixation against Mayfield. All that for Mayfield who had a year last year that will not be matched by any QB this year.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:49 am
The HC and OC are afraid to let Baker open up the offense because it will lead to turnovers. Baker played marginally better all things considered, but that ball control gameplan won’t work against good teams.
This team isn’t making a deep playoff run with Baker if they won’t let him throw to all of those healthy WRs. If the coaches don’t trust him, why should we?
January 4th, 2026 at 8:01 am
I trust Baker, I donāt trust this coaching staff or the GM
January 4th, 2026 at 8:01 am
Bee,
You probably didnāt notice it because you were into your second 12 pack, but that game was played in a monsoon yesterday where footing was terrible. I trust Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to critique Mayfield as a QB rather than a bunch of miserable whiners who complain on these pages. Chief among the whiners are you, Munch, and WarrenBrooksLoser. Congratulations for finally making a team for the first time in your life. Real athletes know how tough the game can be and are careful not to criticize. The fact that you endlessly criticize is a statement about your total lack of athleticism.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:16 am
baker, is mediocre at bestā¦..we need to move on! Letās Go Bucs! Make it into the Dance!!!!!
January 4th, 2026 at 8:31 am
So glad Baker is back. Healthiest hes looked in tooo long.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:43 am
Gipper
Young 24/35 266 2 td 1 int
Baker 16/22 203 1 td 1 int
Both played in the same weather with Young having more yards, completions and tds. No matter what yall will come up with excuses. Licht drafts WRs every year just for them to run a run game ball control offense. If Baker is so good at throwing and they have the personnel then why don’t they throw it?
You know why. The more Baker throws, the more turnovers happen and thats been the case since hes gotten here. The coaches trust him so much they tell Baker to give the ball to the RBs lol
January 4th, 2026 at 9:08 am
That kind of grit and determination is why I’m a Baker fan.
The guy plays his heart out.
Is he perfect? No. He’s got some things to work on (especially the INTs), but the guy doen’t quit.
Of course his numbers dropped off this year. Look at our O-line and the way our entire offense was decimated by injuries this year compared to last year.
If… if… we’re still playing ball at 4:30 this afternoon, and Baker plays like he did yesterday (minus the INTs) we could make some noise in the playoffs.
January 4th, 2026 at 9:27 am
Hopefully in another 24 hours, Belowszo, his Gizzard, and Mr. Magoo will add the word āformerā to their Buccaneers job titles.
January 4th, 2026 at 10:32 am
@Bee, I thought you were like Rod, always blaming Baker unfairly, but now I know you had to take a short bus to get to school, so I’m not mad at you about your one-beat (garbage) takes.
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Bee Says:
January 4th, 2026 at 8:43 am
Gipper
Young 24/35 266 2 td 1 int
Baker 16/22 203 1 td 1 int
Both played in the same weather with Young having more yards, completions and tds. No matter what yall will come up with excuses.
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You mention all the stats where Young had higher numbers, but don’t mention that it’s because he threw the ball 13 more times!!!
Of course Young had more completions and yards. Baker had a higher completion percentage and yards per attempt. They didn’t throw more because the conditions were bad, whereas the Panthers didn’t make that adjustment (because our run D was doing well) and lost.
January 4th, 2026 at 10:37 am
Tunnel vision tends to corrupt oneās opinion of what they think they see during all Bucs games and today was no exception! The Bucs ability to stop the pass has been their Achilles heel and forced to play two rookie corners exposed it more and with the Bucs stopping the running game, passing game became the offense. As with the first game with the Panthers, the Bucs played to protect the defense by running the ball, but this time they used more motion with a sprinkle of passing. A win but odds of winning the division, nil!!! Changes are on the horizon and having read all post over this season, most will not like themā¦ā¦
January 4th, 2026 at 10:38 am
Tunnel vision tends to corrupt oneās opinion of what they think they see during all Bucs games and today was no exception! The Bucs ability to stop the pass has been their Achilles heel and forced to play two rookie corners exposed it more and with the Bucs stopping the running game, passing game became the offense. As with the first game with the Panthers, the Bucs played to protect the defense by running the ball, but this time they used more motion with a sprinkle of passing. A win but odds of winning the division, nil!!!
January 4th, 2026 at 10:41 am
Bee,
You are beyond mere stupidity. Young threw the ball 13 more times than Baker did yesterday which you think accounted for more yardage? I will repeat for you for the last time. Baker Mayfield had a year last year that only 3 QB’s in NFL history ever have. This year despite all of the injuries he had a solid year with 26TD and 11INT. Young had to throw yesterday because Bucs totally took away Carolina running game.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:47 am
Baker threw a perfect pass to a wide open defensive back who caught it, he threw a decently thrown pass at the last possible second to a wide open Payne Durham and he dwarf armed it and jobbed us out of 4 extra points. Special teams once again forgot how to block and jobbed us out of another 3 points so we “should’ve” ended with 23 points more than enough to win based upon how the Poohtie Tats were playing. It really sucks I couldn’t even get excited for this spectacular play by Baker because in my mind I doubted they’d get the ball in the end zone.
Gulper the Baker scrotum faced poster once again shows why true Buc fans should despise the Baker fan goils and why Rod Munch rags on Baker so much. Bee didn’t lie about what Baker did, didn’t make up things just missed out on the complete stats of the two qbs while stating his opinion and what did Baker Gulper come out of her closet to do as usual???? Calling names hissing and clawing out eyes along with some other male cheerleaders. These unstable creatures have done this from day one when Baker was gifted the starting gig after “winning” a qb competition. Can’t handle any kind of criticism of their poster boy without flying off in a estrogenically charged rage. They have brought down the quality of this board since Baker got here. They’re why I’ll be glad when Baker leaves. He’s just great enough to give you some really WOW!!! moments and just Jaymiss Winston bad enough to give you enough OH NO!!!! moments to keep us from ever getting past the 2nd round of the playoffs not having more than 10 wins in a season. He needs everything to be great without being injured to have a season like 2024 but still exit in the 1st round. It’s time for the 1st time in the Bucs half a century history to draft a qb in the first round and have a coach with the intelligence and patience to groom him to be Bakers heir apparent whom I believe would be a great mentor. Look at the Patriots now.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:53 am
BM6 stays, HC is replaced with an offensive minded one. OC goes. JL stays.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:58 am
DavidBigBucsFan99 Says:
January 4th, 2026 at 11:47 am
Baker threw a perfect pass to a wide open defensive back who caught it, he threw a decently thrown pass at the last possible second to a wide open Payne Durham
==============================
Hey man, fully get from your tripe that you are intellectualy challenged. That’s not new information by the way. It’s the same stuff you heard during your school years. Digest this if you can. Brady threw more INT’s in 2 of his 3 years with Tampa than Mayfield did in 2 of his 3 years with Tampa.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:01 pm
As I said, when Mayfield heals up he’ll be back. Oregon is right, Baker as any QB needs a good OC like Coen to do really well. Coaching, especially play design and calling matters. Mayfield IS a gamer.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
It’s funny how the few always point out his human error side. Like the great quarterbacks don’t have bad moments in virtually every game. LMAO
January 4th, 2026 at 12:09 pm
I like how Davidbigbucsfan acts like Carolina is sooo easy to beat. But what he doesn’t say is they beat the 11-5 Rams and Atlanta who beat Buffalo. As usual everything the crybabies say is full of holes.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:10 pm
We have to take a look at Justin Fields, He could put pressure on (Iām hurt) baker mayfield, to play better or to sit Your A$$ downā¦..letās Go BUCS!!! Make the Playoffs!!!!
January 4th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
āYou mention all the stats where Young had higher numbers, but donāt mention that itās because he threw the ball 13 more times!!!ā
Loss-prevention, itās hard to intercept a hand off. Also hard to run into your RB trying to give the handoff, but that happened yesterday.
Also, weāre 1-9 when Baker throws 40 or more passes since heās been with the team.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:21 pm
I just noticed the great Justin Herbert has 11 interception and the even better Matthew Stafford has 8 to Mayfields 11. I wonder if they are getting rid of those boys? You people need to grow up and figure out how dumb you look. It is obvious to anyone Mayfield did something in his past life that you boys just can’t let go of. Your memory is too short to be talking out loud. Mayfield was just the #1 quarterback for 6 weeks before he got hurt you little twits.try thinking before you type and hit send.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Not to mention he has been a top 10 quarterback since he has been here. Plus he beat some of the best defenses in the last minute this year. He needs to stay right here and get us a good OC and HC.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:27 pm
baker, will never be in the class, of a Staffod or Herbert, you mean to tell me, that you wouldnāt rather have Stafford or Herbert over baker????? Just Stop It!!!! LMAOā¦ā¦
January 4th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
Let me get this straight.
BM6 has been a top 10 quarterback since he has played here.
He was ranked #1 by the NFL.com website this year.
He has led the league in passer rating
He has led the league in completion percentage
He has led the league in TD’S
He has led the league in passing yards
He has led the league in converting 3rd downs to first downs.
He has led the league in being a gamer by never quiting and playing hurt regardless of what it’s doing to his stats.
He has done all kinds of work in our community
He leads ALL quarterbacks in playoff passer rating
And you buffoons want to get rid of him because he did something in the past that hurt your little feelers.
I don’t even know what to say about you morons. It is just too stupifying to even comment on.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
HeavyE,
Mayfield totally outplayed Herbert last year in Bucs victory. This year he totally outplayed Darnold and Mac Jones in consective wins versus Seattle and San Fran. Here is an idea: When you have something to say here or anywhere else, know what you are talking about. Really get sick of reading this stuff from complete lunkheads.
January 4th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Iām a lunkhead, with our record at 8-9, and no playoff bid (yet) who chokes more out of all of the QBās mentioned? baker and you all know it. baker is a trash QB and will always be! How many teams has he been on? & I will still say thatās why Canals left and Coen, because they knew what they had in baker, NOTHING!!!!
January 4th, 2026 at 1:01 pm
Gulper your moobies are hanging out. Put them away. Just like a female to harp on the wrong thing and miss what a man says. I put that out as a barb towards Rod Munch pretty much blaming Baker for everything but missing out that Durham jobbed Baker out of a td on a pretty good pass given the circumstances he faced at that time.
Ain’t that about something a testosterone lacking fanb(oi) who can’t see past Baker’s scrotum to call someone mentally challenged, and yet it took Brady 1 year to get a Super Bowl win with the same Todd Bowles defense so what’s your point conehead other than the top of your dome piece which I’m sure Baker hates? I love how you fanb(ois) always try to compare Baker to the greats even though he’s never won anything other than some college accolades and the space been your cheeks top and bottom. You point out specific things but always missing the bigger picture which is this, Baker will have great moments but still never be a great quarterback. He will always be just bad enough to keep you in the world of mediocrity. Like Rod Munch, me and other Buc fans have said from the very beginning he’s the literal meaning of a middling qb.
January 4th, 2026 at 1:04 pm
Well Attaboy when you have something worth while to post run it by us first and we’ll help you stop wasting our time with your guala quala
January 4th, 2026 at 1:16 pm
Hey What It Ain’t the Poohtie Tats aren’t hard to beat even though they beat the Rams. We beat the Seahawks who stomped them pretty good so you’re so called point is moot. The cry babies are the fanb(ois) who get upset with their whining ANY time anyone says anything derogatory against him even when he deserves it
January 4th, 2026 at 1:16 pm
DavidBigBucsFan,
As your school teachers endlessly told your parents at school conferences, they have tried many ways to help you but concluded that they couldnāt fix STOOPID.
You dig, man?
January 4th, 2026 at 1:25 pm
Whatās up with all the name calling? It just shows us how mature you actually are, if you donāt agree, than donāt agree! Iām a grown ass man,you donāt have to try and disrespect me on a keyboard, stop being so tough on a keyboard!!! Letās Go Bucs! Make the Playoffs!!! Iām doneā¦ā¦..
January 4th, 2026 at 1:46 pm
I like baker but man those INTs are killing us. Also Joe heās looked healthy for last 4 games. Stop using him nothing healthy a reason for him throwing picks. We know what we have in baker. Heās inconsistent. Has bin the last 3 years. He plays great then goes into a Winston like mode then comes out of it. Baker is consistently inconsistent
January 4th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Oh did DBBF99 get put in his place…
Looks like Attaboy made a much better point than your weak pitiful whinny retort. Mayfield is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and you wittle cwybabies want to get rid of him because he beat the snot out of your college team years ago. Get over it already we are tired of your incessant whining about our quarterback. Go cry about another team, Cleveland maybe.
January 4th, 2026 at 1:59 pm
Oh, and I hate to tell you DBBF99, when a team has the ability to beat a team that is 11-5 they have the “coaching” and “talent” to beat anyone on any given Sunday. Herein lies the problem with the wittle cwybabies. You know nothing about talent and athleticism. You people used to say Mayfield couldn’t evade the rush, he was too slow. Well we see how wrong you were on that one, like so many others. Just let the men discuss the matters of this team because you WC’s have proven you know nothing about real talent.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:00 pm
HeavyE,
Can meet you anywhere if you want to discuss further. Just name it.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:18 pm
Ya’ll let us know where you are getting together and we’ll come and “watch”
January 4th, 2026 at 2:21 pm
šš
January 4th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
What it is,
Please show up. Will be a very short discussion.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:29 pm
It’s funny how heavye states how Mayfield chokes more than anyone mentioned. See this is the whole problem, you people constantly say things that you really can’t prove but you say them like they are facts and then you whine when someone shoots you down. No it’s called fact checking not crying. Keep it to the “FACTS” and there won’t be a problem.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:34 pm
You’re right Joe, words can’t do justice to what Mayfield brings to this team. When we get a good OC he will be in the top 5 again, where he belongs.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:39 pm
Truth is painful isn’t it Bigbucs. Mayfield is the best thing we have had in a long time, he isn’t going anywhere because the owners know the whole story on Baker. They know they just need to get better coaching and we will be in a superbowl with BM6 leading the way. Write it down
January 4th, 2026 at 2:55 pm
JUST SO EVERYBODY KNOWS, what BM6 did in 2024 and the first few weeks of 2025 isn’t an outlier. Coen has taken the Jacksonville Jaguars from 5-12 to 12-5 in one year. As soon as we get another OC that’s any good BM6 will be back in the top 5 and some weeks back to the #1 spot. Coaching matters to every athlete no matter who they are. Mayfield has the raw talent to take any team to a superbowl he just needs a good OC. And those that know, knows what they got. He ain’t goin no where so get used to it.
January 4th, 2026 at 3:47 pm
Hmm,
The whiners say that Baker keeps throwing critical INTs, but let’s examine that premise. MOST, but not all of those INTs have come when Baker has had to leave the pocket, is on the run with DE’s bearing down, and trying to force a play. Many other ‘better’ QBs would not have thrown those INTs, because they would be laying on their backs with a DT/DE on top of them. They generally throw just about as many picks, but they do it from clean pockets… a luxury which Baker has never had, except for 2024.
Yes, he occasionally throws a bad pick when he locks in on a specific receiver and does not see the lurking S/CB… but ALL QBs do that at times, except possibly Mahomes. Defensive Coordinators get paid to scheme those up once in a while….
Baker’s ‘bad INT problem” (note, he’s still averaging less than 1 INT for every 6 quarters he plays) is a result of his sky-high ‘escapability’ and his unwillingness to just throw the ball away. Yes, he should throw the ball away more… but some of his most miraculous plays have also come in those same situations (stiff-arming Joey Bosa, anyone?).
In other words, invest in a good o-line, and you’ll get more 2024 Baker… when we don’t have one, we get 2025 Baker (who, btw, is still an excellent QB… our losses are mostly down to Special Teams and Defensive failures, by and large).
I’m hoping we draft Sonny Styles, trade for David Njoku, re-sign Cade Otten and Mike Evans, and draft a stud guard and finally find a damned Edge Rusher!
January 4th, 2026 at 4:40 pm
Here we go again, the same old whiners crying about how bad Mayfield is but as usual, not offering any other attainable QB that the Bucs could get that would be a definite upgrade.
It’s like telling someone they need to fix their financial woes by going out there and buying the winning lottery ticket.
January 4th, 2026 at 4:43 pm
Actually, Bucblind II, the Jags finished the season 13-4.
January 4th, 2026 at 5:13 pm
A quality OC will get the most out of our man Baker. Unfortunately, the whole coaching cadre must be dismissed to get this done.
Those calling for Baker’s head really don’t know what they have — or what they may end up with — if Baker is not re-signed.