Baker Mayfield’s stat line as a runner in Week 1 was nothing to write home about. He finished with 11 yards on eight carries in his first start as a Buccaneer, a 20–17 win on the road against the Vikings.
But if you watched the game in Minnesota, you knew. There was the sneak he converted on fourth-and-1 with eight minutes left, and the stiff arm he delivered to the chest of Vikings corner Byron Murphy Jr. to churn out five yards and ignite a drive that resulted in the game-winning points. Then there was the way Mayfield turned the corner of Danielle Hunter and buried his shoulder into linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. to pick up four yards on a third-and-3 with 2:52 to go.
I filed that away, mostly because what I thought I saw was the old Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma back out there. What was a statistical blip to most actually seemed pretty significant, symbolically at least, in that this was the chip-carrying, playmaking, fun-having kid again. And so three months later, with Mayfield on the phone after the Bucs got to 7–7 with a 34–20 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field, I figured I’d ask him about that.
The 28-year-old didn’t skip a beat.
“It’s exactly how it is,” he says. “It’s a big reason why I chose to come to Tampa [Bay]. They told me to be the best version of myself. That’s football—having fun playing football. A couple other stops, they tried to morph me into someone I’m not, got a little too involved instead of letting me be a great leader. This place has empowered me to be the best version of myself. You see it on tape. It pops out at you. People notice it.”
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On Sunday, he made all of Green Bay feel it.
For Mayfield and the Bucs, what Sunday’s game lacked in drama, it made up for in stakes and excellence. The NFC South title is, every week now, on the line for a team still stocked with players used to competing on the biggest stages. And the quarterback who has fit right in was equal to all of that—and a Packers team playing for just as much—on Sunday.
Mayfield finished 22-of-28 for 381 yards, four touchdowns, no picks and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He also had just two rushing attempts on the day, mostly because the Bucs didn’t need any more than that from him. Those two attempts were kneeldowns to cap the win.
In Sunday’s conclusion, Mayfield had a pretty perfect illustration of how he’d hoped, and envisioned, this would play out back in March when he signed on to take Tom Brady’s spot as a Buccaneer. Mayfield saw then a team with championship mettle that was being doubted and, well, immediately identified with that. He also believed he wasn’t just the kind of person, but also the kind of player, that could get the Bucs to where they’ve been as of late.
“That’s the reason I signed here in the first place, to make a run, and just enjoy the process with them,” he says. “I came here to play meaningful football in December. We’re fighting uphill battles with the record that we have, but still being able to come in here as a team and finding a way to win in a hostile environment was big-time. It’s just the mentality of not taking no for an answer, and when it comes down to it, in these important games in December, everybody’s got to be really, really focused.”
And while the Bucs’ win did come by a comfortable margin, there was one particular point in the fourth quarter where the Packers threatened to take the game to the wire—giving Tampa Bay another chance to show its big-game experience.
An Anders Carlson field goal got Green Bay to within one score, at 27–20, with 10 minutes left. Mayfield went up and down the sideline, knowing the Bucs had to stay the aggressor. Clearly, offensive coordinator Dave Canales agreed. On third-and-4, even with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans producing, Tampa Bay turned instead to David Moore, who’d overlapped with Canales and receivers coach Brad Idzik with the Seahawks.
The coaches trusted Moore in that spot, so Mayfield did too.
“D-Mo’s been in Seattle, he’s been in Dallas, he knows Canales, he knows Brady, he’s very familiar with our system,” Mayfield says. “Third down play, motion Mike over into a bunch set, and he’s the first read. They wind up taking him away. Between the corner route and the stick route with David, it’s kind of 1 to 2A/2B. [De’Vondre] Campbell, their linebacker, he was expanding pretty good, so I had to put a little mustard on it on the outside shoulder.
“D-Mo did the rest.”
And then the Bucs’ line handled it from there. Mayfield had told the unit early in the fourth quarter they would take over in the run game, and it eventually happened, with Rachaad White grinding out two first downs to get the quarterback those kneeldowns.
Of course, that result is what every quarterback is looking for every Sunday.
But there is something for Mayfield that feels right about where he’s at now. He’s learned a lot of football over his six NFL seasons, with all the systems and situations he’s been in. He’s grown, too. And the truth is, it sure sounds like he doesn’t mind being slept on a little, like he was all those years ago when he walked on to two separate Big 12 programs.
“I’m a firm believer of everything happens for a reason,” he says. “I think God had a plan for me. To think of everything that was going on, was I having fun? Absolutely not. But that’s what made me take a step back and say, There’s a meaning in this mess right now. There’s purpose in the pain, so let’s figure it out. When I got to Carolina, just trying to be the best teammate I could be. It didn’t work out. When I got to LA, it was like, Alright, I have five games to ball out, have fun and a little bit of a reset, then go into free agency with an open and fresh mind.
“It all happened for a reason, and it got me here to this point. … It helps to get to learn from different people and different philosophies. Having to adjust on the fly, learn guys, how they’re doing routes, having to adjust, just being able to be an excellent communicator in different atmospheres, different places on pretty much a fast track, it makes you grow up.”
The grown-up version of Mayfield looked pretty good Sunday. The Buccaneers did, too. And the quarterback could honestly tell you now that, for the first time in a while, it really does feel like things are working out just the way he drew them up.
