Baker Mayfield States Two Keys To The Offense
September 25th, 2026
Keep running the ball might be a good start, along with finding chain-moving passes from intermediate routes.
But the Vikings will be blitzing like rabid dogs. That’s how they play. It’s a go-down-swinging Brian Flores defense. And Baker Mayfield said this week that the Bucs’ readiness is top of mind.
“Clear and concise communication on the blitz pickup,” Mayfield told the Buccaneers Radio Network. “Anytime you’re playing Minnesota or Brian Flores in general, you gotta have a Cover Zero plan. They do an incredible job of mixing up the looks. It could be the exact same look if it actually is all-out blitz, and then they’ll bluff out and play Cover 2 and drop eight and different things like that.
“So, being able to have a good program, keying in on the little details and just being on the same page. I mean, my first game here as a Buc was against the Vikings, against Brian Flores. So trying to have that same mindset. ‘All right, this is what we’re gonna do. These are our answers. This is the first thing we’re getting to, here’s what’s next.’ And just getting guys on the same page.”
A lot rides on Mayfield in this game. He’s had plenty of success against Flores’ defenses. Mayfield knows what’s coming. He’s a ninth-year quarterback with a fat contract.
Another 19-point performance is sure to send the Bucs to 0-3 and a barage of boos when they leave The Licht House field.
Ira Kaufman Talks Todd Bowles’ Future, A Questionable Personnel Decision, Two Bucs Strengths, And More
September 25th, 2026 at 10:25 am
The pass blocking was horrible against the Browns stunts and games. The guys in the middle of the line need to create a window for Baker to throw and run from. He beat the Vikings a couple of years ago with his 3rd down runs, he needs to repeat that.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:34 am
Two Keys
Hope in Doc Brown’s Time Machine and go back to January of 2025, tell the Glazers to Fire Todd and Promote Liam Coen
Then do not extend Baker unless the time travel attempt works out
September 25th, 2026 at 10:36 am
The Bucs need to come out with a sense of urgency and really ready to play. They definately will need to play a 100 times better than the last 2 weeks. If this team has any talent and moxy it will show in this game. I mean look at ATL last night, they simply did not want to lose. They played hard. Yes GB has its problems but Atl came to play. I would like to see a team Sunday that really wants to play. Thus far that has been missing.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:39 am
Joe … ‘A lot rides on Mayfield in this game. He’s had plenty of success against Flores’ defenses. Mayfield knows what’s coming. He’s a ninth-year quarterback with a fat contract.’
That pretty much what we need. Unfortunately, Baker’s also turned the ball over 4 times in 2 games, been sacked 7 times in those same 2 games, and could give dancing lessons to Fred Astaire. Fat contract doesn’t mean diddly if he doesn’t settle down, start playing ‘under control’ and start getting the ball to his play-makers in a position so they can make plays like he’s supposed to.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:41 am
The Third Key is for him to sit on the bench.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:43 am
there is a lot of talk of the line and rightfully so but while i am a fan of bucky the loss of white’s pass protection is also hurting the bucs this year
September 25th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Gotta give Baker credit. I mean, he’s up there with the best salesman in the world. And the product? Baker Mayfield.
He sold teammates, Bowles, Licht, the Glazers and even many of you on his “greatness.” He takes his lineman out to dinner, and even on vacations. He plays “hurt” and even runs downfield to throw a block to take your mind off poor play.
Think about it, anybody else asking to be promoted with a big pay raise after finishing 2-7 would be laughed out of any NFL building, but not Baker Mayfield in Tampa! They beg to give them their money! He even has our GM publicly stating he lives vicariously through him. The owners love him!
To hell with football. Everybody loves Baker Mayfield!
Sir, my hat is off to you. You’re 10x the grifter Newman and Redford were in The Sting!
Baker for President!
September 25th, 2026 at 10:57 am
Rod Munch, Lakeland, etc.: I poked around a bit more and it looks like y’all were right and I was wrong. The pocket collapsed last week because Baker held onto the ball, more than the reverse. Hopefully, he’ll fix it Sunday!
September 25th, 2026 at 10:57 am
If Baker continues to hold the ball, a loss is on the way, if Baker Morphs into his time in the Coen led offense, and gets the ball out a lot quicker, then there is a chance.
Holding the Football gets you beat in the NFL, and QB’s get beat up.
If the play is there fine get the ball out, if the play is not there throw it away, on to the next play.
Its time for Baker to learn how to win, not just play hero ball and get beat up and and lose
September 25th, 2026 at 10:58 am
Shut up you b!$&h ass mark thist team is doomed with baker carr at quarterback he’s useless
September 25th, 2026 at 11:03 am
How about you throw the ball under 4 seconds bud. Then work on throwing less meatball subs
September 25th, 2026 at 11:04 am
Hit the wide open receiver DOWNFIELD.
Stop sucking.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:05 am
They will not blitz quite as much against us because they do not need to the way our O line is playing.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:07 am
If you take a look back…..most of our games…..win or lose, have depended totally on Baker’s performance late in games……..why?
The defense seems to always give up points late…..just enough to put us behind.
If Baker does well, we win…..if he doesn’t he loses.
But it’s been soft defenses late that have been our problem.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:14 am
Sorry TBBf. It’s been offense not finishing games the last 13. Defense doing their job keeping games around 20 pts or less.. the expectation with this offense is 27 pts a game
September 25th, 2026 at 11:20 am
Four first round picks on our defensive line and a defensive ” mastermind ” head coach who’s been in charge of the defense for a long time. You think the Vikings blogs are writing about what a challenge it will be to stop our pass rush? We spent most of our draft capital on the defense and it looks just as bad as last year and the year before as a unit. Different names same poor tackling, missed assignments, and poor communication. Every year it looks like starting over instead of building on last year and improving. Now our offense line that was our biggest strength is a liability with the same players? If Liam Cohen didnt carry us with his offense Bowles would have been gone already because that would have been a losing season too. Liam saved Bowles job and prolonged our suffering. 3rd and 28.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:21 am
I would say it’s more the offense not having good starts….keeping the opponent i the game until late….
But, we are still having to come from behind…..it has been rare that we have been ahead and given up a lead.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:22 am
STRONG chance the Bucs lose to the Vikings [24-17] and go 0-3….
I thought even a Todd Bowels poorly coached team would win 7 (now I think 5 wins) this season…
Now the Bucs are the basement dwellers in the NFCS and watching all 4 teams, I believe they end the season there and left behind by the other 3 teams….
The Bucs had their golden opportunity years to get a winning HC and build a winning team while all the other teams were horrible… NOW it seems the Bucs are the only true horrible team in their division…
It’s a Bucs life!
September 25th, 2026 at 11:23 am
If the defense holds the Vikings to 20ish points, and we lose, then the baker bois will hear about it. Guaranteed. And rightfully so.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:33 am
Baker had Dave as OC win he beat the Vikings…thats not the case now….
GO BUCS!!!!
September 25th, 2026 at 11:38 am
“I would say it’s more the offense not having good starts….keeping the opponent i the game until late….
But, we are still having to come from behind…..it has been rare that we have been ahead and given up a lead.”
You just answered your question without answering the question.
We cannot generate points(namely TDs) on a consistent basis and we’ve been starting games ridiculously slow. Did you know, we haven’t put 2 consecutive TD drives up since week 1 of last year? I’m talking score a TD one drive then score a TD the next time we get it?
Again, Houston last year, we allowed 19 points in that entire game and had to come back win it.
We don’t score consistently enough to even build leads and say, open up the pass rush like we did when we had a more explosive offense in years like 2020 & 2021.
You can allow as little points as possible, but if you’re not generating points you get games like Sunday when your offense gets deservedly gets boo’d after it’s third FG try. The opportunity to build a lead was there, but we settled for 3 instead of taking 7 going into halftime and knowing we were coming out of halftime with the ball on offense to perhaps BUILD on an actual lead.
Problem is, this fan base want 60 minutes of ball from the defense and the offense is okay as long as it comes alive at some point before 60 minutes is up. It makes for weird reads watching this team. Nothing works like that.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:39 am
Noticed something about Mr Irrelevant, San Fran’s QB Brock Purdy, yesterday. He’s thrown the ball 56 times & completed 45 of those … 80.4% Completion Percentage in 2 games. He’s also run 8 times for 59 yds, and has been sacked … ZERO times. The 49ers are 2-0, their offense has scored 62 pts based on converting 12-of-19 (63.2%) of their 3rd Downs (no 4th Downs attempted or converted). They’ve converted 7-of-8 of their Red Zone entries into TDs, for a Red Zone TD percentage of 87.5% . Meanwhile, their defense has only surrendered 20 pts total in 2 games.
Interestingly, Mike Evans (remember him?) has been targeted 10 times and caught 9 of those (90% Catch Percentage) for 1 TD and 9 first downs, gaining 103 yds in the process. Turns out that Brock Purdy throws a LOT of short & intermediate stuff (almost all in FRONT of the LOS coincidentally), but he can also ‘go deep’; he was 1-for-2 deep in Game 1 against the Rams (for 1 TD), but then 5-for-5 deep in Game 2 against the Dolphins. Guess the 49ers will have to give him a raise now to keep him abreast of Baker.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:41 am
They can outscore them with 35 points.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:44 am
This game is a test. Baker is experienced enough to punish cover zero. The line is supposed to be one of the better ones in football. Even if baker torches the blitz and the bucs score.
I bet Flores wouldn.t dare run cover zero 75 percent of the snaps against Tom brady.
The defense is going to make kyler Murray look all world. And the Vikings will score 35
Bucs lose take the vikings only getting 1.5 points. Avoid the over under
September 25th, 2026 at 11:51 am
Perhaps being smart enough to get rid of the ball as fast as possible would help.
Also maybe stop overthrowing every WR downfield could also lead to a win.
Crying like a baby until you get your way then picking your nose and eating it after you get your way is not going to work.
Baker has successfully stolen $165 million from the Glazers. Worked like a charm.
A scrub backup QB that is 3-10 in his last 13 games.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:54 am
For those looking at the Vikings’ defense, it’s very good overall (ranked #4, and has only given up 25 pts in 2 games), but it’s not at all dissimilar to the Bucs’ defense. They focus on stopping the run first-and-foremost, and use a bend-but-don’t-break pass defense (their Pass Defense ranks #27 after 2 games, while their Run Defense is ranked #13). Difference is … Vikings do that successfully, all game long.
The key difference between them & us though is that they give up very few TDs defensively (only 2 TDs in 2 games), AND their offense doesn’t put them in bad positions by turning the ball over (only 1 INT & 0 fumbles). Their defense is exceptional on 3rd Downs (allowing only 8 conversions in 27 attempts … 29.6%) and in the Red Zone (allowing only 1 TD in 7 Red Zone Attempts … 14.3%). They’ve also only given up 4 FGs.
Bottom line is that Vikings’ defense isn’t an easy defense to attack successfully. You can move the ball against them, but when push-comes-to-shove, they’re excellent at shutting you down.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:04 pm
@DR
Philosophically & Stylistically, Flores and Bowles are pretty much the same guy.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:21 pm
There won’t be that many boos at the game.
It’s hard to even hear them at a quarter capacity.
I wonder how the Glazers are gonna pay anybody 5 years from now?
Nobody wants to watch this garbage.
I think I understand now why Bowles takes 3 weeks to notice a change is needed.
Because he learned it from Licht who learned it from the Glazers.
They are all gonna pat themselves on the back all the way to the first pick.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
The solution is very simple be accurate and stop overthrowing the rock!
September 25th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Run the ball about 50% o the time. Play action a bunch too! Also pray a whole lot!!!! 😁🙏
September 25th, 2026 at 12:30 pm
It should 1-3 steps backwards for a QB, then quickly get rid of the ball
All of this running around, dancing in the pocket
That’s not a Pro Style QB
September 25th, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Defense Rules, did you see the Packers/ Falcons last night. A mediocre, talent wise, Falcons defense, pummeled Jordan Love all night. He must have had 10 or more turnover worthy plays. The Falcons dropped multiple picks, ended up with only one. They pressured him consistently and he barely completed 50% of his throws. They wouldn’t even let him do anything in garbage time. That’s what a good defensive coordinator can do for you. They played like crazed dogs and made a good quarterback look very bad. It didn’t help that the Packers were missing a couple people on that offensive line, but the Falcons were missing their best 2 pass rushers also. Coaching is everything. If it was Purdy behind center for the Packers last night, the result would have been the same or worse. Th name of the game in football is to rush the passer. If you pressure, hit and sack the quarterback, you win. Best example I can think of is when the Seahawks destroyed the Broncos and Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl and made that supposed juggernaut offense of the Broncos impotent in that game. The Falcons made a very good quarterback look like crap last night.
September 25th, 2026 at 1:24 pm
I can give ya 3 keys
1) offensive line has ton pass block. They haven’t.
2) WRs have to get open. They haven’t. Plus the film of Godwin quitting in the middle of plays isn’t inspiring our very young WR room. Godwin has given up on this team.
3) firing Zack Robinson, and hiring yet another, but more competent offensive Coordinator. We’ve had two horrible OCs in a row! Who’s hiring these clowns?
Those 3 things would start racking up the wins.
Don’t count on it
Vikings in an easy win. Raymond James stadium becomes Vikings home stadium. Fans turn on Bucs GM, Coach, team, water boys, etc.
It’s gonna be a looong Season
September 25th, 2026 at 1:39 pm
The lack of good offensive line play is killing them, oh also the lack of a competent head coach
September 25th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Godwin would not and will never do that!!!!!
September 25th, 2026 at 2:02 pm
@ TampaBayBucFan – Don’t act as if this “offense” has been lighting-up any scoreboards, now. You started your first comment off at the right place… About all of these games coming down to BAKER in the end. He hasn’t PRODUCED. It’s THE NFL. It’s an “Offensive” League, with PLAYMAKERS littered all over the field. Defenses will eventually BREAK. They’re NOT going to hold-up and keep you ‘in it’ FOREVER. Even the GOOD Defenses. NOT when they are going up against an ELITE-QB, and a STRONG “OFFENSE.” Hmmmm… Bottomline, Baker has NOT gotten it done or DELIVERED. You have to EXPECT that your so-called “Franchise-QB” will come through for you. It’s just logical, and how it WORKS. It’s the way it is supposed to be. It is what it is.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:02 pm
The OL is a joke. That’s a significant part of the problem on Offense. Baker can’t hit a pass longer than 15 yards. That is another problem. And then Robinson calls predictable plays, which the Offense can’t execute.
And I love clowns like Barber and who tell us how complicated and complex Bowles’ defense is.
No. It’s not. It’s just ineffective by design, and poorly played by players who are either past their prime or not NFL caliber.
0-3.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Key to the defense is don’t give up 75.5% completion rate! Worst in the NFL and Deshaun Watson was one of those QB’s. Why would other teams even consider running the football?
Offense obviously just stop turning the ball over and when the ball hits you in the hands freaking catch it.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:07 pm
ive said it over and over and gruden alluded to it but godwin is not separating . baker is holding on to the ball waiting for him to get open. godwin making $22 mil a year and baker has to go to hurst in crunch time.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:13 pm
“ive said it over and over and gruden alluded to it but godwin is not separating . baker is holding on to the ball waiting for him to get open. godwin making $22 mil a year and baker has to go to hurst in crunch time.”
Separation would matter more, if the pocket player were at a live of spreading the ball around, but it’s not and for a QB that doesn’t mind throwing into double & triple coverage, wtf does it matter if his WR has a step on a CB or not.
Example, pretty much any of the deep balls or the Egbuka TD catch when he had to literally do Michael Jacksons “smooth criminal” lean in order to catch a pass that was thrown behind him.
This fan base loves sticking it’s entire head in the sand just to ignore the obvious
September 25th, 2026 at 2:19 pm
3 MORE years fellas…Baker’s got 3 more years!
September 25th, 2026 at 2:19 pm
Don’t waste your time! Sunday it will be beautiful outside go do something constructive with your family and friends, why put yourselves through this dumpster fire wasteland
September 25th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
Key 1 hit open receivers
Key 2 don’t turn the ball over.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:31 pm
@ WBL says: “ You just answered your question without answering the question.
Problem is, this fan base want 60 minutes of ball from the defense and the offense is okay as long as it comes alive at some point before 60 minutes is up. It makes for weird reads watching this team. Nothing works like that.”
ExACTLY. 💯 And, the FG’s instead of TD’s. Just preachin’ to the choir, though. Nothing changes with this bunch. ZERO urgency, EVER.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:31 pm
Im not impressed at all with Robinson’s play calling most times. It seems like he can get something going, then he pulls a todd (or is it ACTUALLY todd overriding) and gets away from what was working. Are they trying to sabotage the season on purpose? Both sides, O and D are just not making sense….unless its on purpose.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:40 pm
DR – Also, I heard this morning that over 40% of PURDY’s passes have been “BLIND” passes (not blind screens either), where he’s letting it rip BEFORE his WR arrived to his spot and looked for the ball. He KNEW who to throw it to, AND exactly where he was going to be. Penix was doing the exact same last night, for all throughout the last 3-Quarters, after he shook off the rust.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:53 pm
@ Oscar – Though, is Jordan Love really a “very good” Quarterback? He’s a very “talented” one, who puts up some pretty good ‘numbers’ and lots of empty STATS. But, he’s not a “LEADER.” Purdy is “Brady-esque.” HE is a true LEADER. There’s a difference.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:03 pm
@ Capt.Tim – Ummm, what about THE ‘highest’ PAID player on the team… You left HIM out entirely!? Other than, to insinuate that EVERYTHING must be absolutely PERFECT in order for HIM to succeed. So, he’s just another guy then!? Okay, you’re right… He’s a JAG. The Bucs paid ‘tip-top-of-the-market’ money LONGTERM, for an aging, undersized, 31-YEAR OLD JAG. Just Fantastic. GREAT.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:06 pm
baker overthrew tez once in endzone when tez feet got tangled with defender. another one baker threw a go and tez ran a different route
September 25th, 2026 at 3:16 pm
@ WBL says: “Example, pretty much any of the deep balls or the Egbuka TD catch when he had to literally do Michael Jacksons “smooth criminal” lean in order to catch a pass that was thrown behind him.”
BINGO. It’s almost every time. Behind them, where they can’t do anything with it! Especially, to EE for some reason!? I’ve seen-it just way too many times, and it just throws EVERYTHING OFF.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:48 pm
How a team plays on the field, whether you’re talking about playing inspired ball with max effort or whether you’re talking about communication and execution, it all starts with the head coach. The players may love Todd Bowles, but they are not motivated by him. A team that does not tackle well and has repeated mental miscues is not playing inspired football or with a sense of urgency. Saying you’re cognizant of the urgency that is required and acting upon that on the field are two different things! This is nothing new under Bowles. The one example that stands out in my mind is the game against the Saints in 2024. Playoffs on the line and playing a team already eliminated and played most of the first half with their thumbs where they don’t belong. They finally got it together thanks to a Baker third down run and they were able to turn it around. Rewatch that game and you will see how pathetically prepared they were. It was disgusting. I don’t have specific answers as to how some coaches do it, but there are some that always have their teams prepared and playing hard and smart. Andy Reid and Sean Payton are two examples. There are others but Todd unfortunately is not one of them.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:51 pm
That usually means Egbuka is angling incorrectly on his patterns. We also saw that on the last play of the game. He didn’t cut sharply enough. He needs to work on the angles he is cutting. If the pass is behind him, he cut too sharply. If it’s ahead of him, he didn’t cut sharply enough. If you think it’s Mayfield’s that is off, look at his pass to Hurst.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:56 pm
Mayfield and Egbuka need to get on the same page for slants, that’s for sure.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:58 pm
That superbowl edge the Bucs had with Brady and Arians has been slowly dissipating ever since those guys left and Bowles took over. Those guys were the ones that had the team playing smart and with an edge. That is almost 100% gone now.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:59 pm
And it’s Bredeson that is killing them. Barton is the number 1 center on PFF for the first 2 weeks. Bredeson is near the bottom of the rankings. Heck, he’s almost playing as badly as Dan Feeney! Pass rush has been getting by him routinely.
September 25th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
I’ll give you two keys to the offense: Different Quarterback
September 25th, 2026 at 4:07 pm
I was wrong. Barton is 8th in pass protection. Bredeson is very low but not the lowest. Barton is playing a lot better than I thought, though. And Wirfs is looking better but still has a little ways to go- especially in run blocking…
September 25th, 2026 at 4:35 pm
St Pete Matty still blaming everyone but Baker. Oline needs to do this. WRs need to do that.
STFU!! How about the team leader, the high paid “top QB” play like he’s being paid to play.
You’re a joke
September 25th, 2026 at 4:54 pm
Stpetematt,
I saw that last play on the all22. Emeka came out of his break and was expecting the ball right there. He definitely slowed down. Baker thought he was going to accelerate out of the break but he didn’t. I’m not saying Emeka did anything wrong. I don’t know. Another miscommunication, what do you know!
September 25th, 2026 at 5:08 pm
2 keys would be Baker play for the Vet Minimum and get better players to support an average QB.
September 25th, 2026 at 5:20 pm
whats funny about the criticism of baker is hes the best player on the offense
September 25th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
“Oscar Says: Stpetematt Says:
September 25th, 2026 at 3:51 pm
That usually means Egbuka is angling incorrectly on his patterns. We also saw that on the last play of the game. He didn’t cut sharply enough. He needs to work on the angles he is cutting. If the pass is behind him, he cut too sharply.”
The pass was late, you don’t need all this Bakesplaining to try to divert the accountability. Even on product play, the bad habits show up so obviously they’re on full display on actual bad plays.