NFL.com: Haters Better Learn To Like It; Baker Is “Ballin'”
December 25th, 2023
Perfect fit?
Where would the Bucs be with Derek Carr at quarterback? Or Jimmy GQ? Or Andy Dalton? Or Sam Darnold? Or even Kyle Trask?
The Bucs are on the cusp of an NFC South title after curb-stomping the Jags yesterday at The Licht House.
Think about it, folks: The Bucs may win 10 games this season. It’s not ridiculous to think they can. After the loss to the Colts a month ago, anyone suggesting the Bucs would win 10 games would be drug tested.
For Eric Edholm of NFL.com, he believes the Bucs can largely think Mayfield. He thinks Mayfield was the perfect fit for the Bucs, a scrappy guy who may not be the best and may not be the most consistent.
But surround Mayfield with talent, add a patient offensive coordinator and with Mayfield’s gutsy play, you can win games.
And the Bucs are, Edholm types.
Accept it: Baker Mayfield is ballin’ in 2023. Fresh off a perfect passer rating in Week 15, Mayfield put together another excellent performance in a fashion that has become his trademark. He completed 26 of 35 passes for 283 yards and two dimes to Mike Evans for touchdowns, but what impressed me most is what has also been most prevalent throughout his resurgent 2023 season: He just doesn’t give up. … That type of determination is what has powered Mayfield to this unlikely campaign, which now has the Buccaneers on the verge of winning the NFC South thanks to four straight wins. I have a hard time believing any of the other starting-caliber quarterbacks available in the 2023 offseason would have been able to get the Buccaneers to this point. Credit is due to Mayfield, offensive coordinator Dave Canales and Rachaad White, whose contributions (prior to Sunday) unlocked this offense. Now, the Buccaneers are in the driver’s seat for the division crown, and just might have their quarterback of the future already on their roster.
Joe knows players feed on Mayfield’s energy. Talking to guys like Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, they get stoked when they see their quarterback busting his nads like Mayfield does.
Virtually every one of Mayfield’s offensive teammates refer to him with one word. “Dawg.”
And it’s not just the offense. Defenders watching on the sidelines love how physical Mayfield plays.
Joe thinks Edholm is onto something. Chemistry is hard to judge, hard to predict, hard to gauge. However, Mayfield and his personality seem to be just what this team needed.
December 25th, 2023 at 4:41 am
Didn’t think we’d grow to like (we’ll most of us) a QB so much so quickly after Brady left. Hopefully it continues.
December 25th, 2023 at 4:42 am
***well, not we’ll
December 25th, 2023 at 4:58 am
This site tears Bucs fans apart with all the negativity pitting fans against one another concerning players. Adios
December 25th, 2023 at 5:26 am
Joe what do you think, or take away from Coach Bowles going for it on 4th down more than once and early in the game to be exact?I feel he wanted to establish that Tampa was going to dictate the game the way the wanted.
December 25th, 2023 at 5:57 am
“Surround him with talent”. Interesting concept. Would that work with other quarterbacks?
December 25th, 2023 at 5:58 am
Don’t look now, but Todd Bowles is growing as a head coach.
Here’s some things I have noticed.
1.Unwavering faith in Baker , taking the handcuffs off the run first offense.
2. Giving Canales the keys to the offense .
3. Responding to the issue of not getting Godwin involved in the offense. Can’t say what went on behind the scenes but its possible that Baker may have been fixated on Evans because he is such a weapon. Godwin helps this offense gel with
his whether its a run or pass you absolutely have to have.
5. Making Changes on the O line and D line to make us more competitive.
December 25th, 2023 at 6:01 am
Like i said earlier…. Better make room, we got our QB of the future….we just got to figure out how much we gonna pay this cat and for how long (i got you Baker) i called for us to go after you just like i did with Brady….just be friendly please
December 25th, 2023 at 6:33 am
If the Bucs win a playoff Baker deserves at least 20 mil a year.
December 25th, 2023 at 6:37 am
Bakers leadership and never-say-die playing style is exactly what this team needed post Brady. Imagine the difference it makes seeing your QB willing to block for his RB, willing to take on 2 defenders in order to pick up a vital first down, as opposed to last year watching Brady drop to the ground the second his pocket collapsed, not having the guts to throw passes to Mike Evans because he wasn’t “open enough” (Mike is always open, even when covered.) This squad needed more juice, and Baker Mayfield brought it. I’m more than happy to eat crow and admit I was wrong about him coming into this season. I love the way he plays, he’s all heart.
December 25th, 2023 at 6:53 am
As stated before: Don’t Blame the QB!
Great to see Baker in drivers seat. Walt from above even seems to favor him over Brady – Now THAT really says a lot. Go Bucs!
December 25th, 2023 at 7:09 am
Would love to see Mayfield sign a long term deal with the Bucs. However, with the bargain deal he is currently playing for, the Bucs must out-bid many other teams for his service. Is the Russell Wilson era over in Denver? How about the big money the Commanders will offer? Is Murray done in Arizona? The point is there are many QB needy teams who will open the vaults for Mayfield this season including the Steelers, Patriots, Raiders and Saints. The decision to re-sign Mayfield is as much his as the Bucs.
December 25th, 2023 at 7:12 am
Canales should be the head coach.
December 25th, 2023 at 7:37 am
What’s self-evident now is that Mayfield has absolute comprehension and control of the offense. He’s another offensive coordinator on the field. Unconscious competence at this point.
As for him being a DAWG?
Yeah, he about breaks his neck and after a little neck rub, he goes back on the field to finish a happy ending.
Merry Christmas to us!!!
Loving Santa Mayfield! 🎅
December 25th, 2023 at 8:19 am
Those that hate the Bucs for winning without their beloved Kyle Trask can all go cheer for the Jets or someone. Baker is totally catalyzing the win streak and the future. And in the process, forces us to give Bowles another chance. As someone said above, he’s finally made changes that have been positive and even got a decent game out of Diva White.
Go Bucs.
December 25th, 2023 at 8:20 am
Tough Xmas morning for the haters that were praying for 4-13 record; so they could cash their expert QB vouchers
December 25th, 2023 at 8:30 am
Merry Christmas Bucs fans! Anyone see this next game getting flexed to 4 pm by any chance?
December 25th, 2023 at 8:47 am
2 good games out of 15 does not make a good QB. He is playing nice right now though, I will admit. Lets see if he can keep it up. Odds arent on his side though.
December 25th, 2023 at 8:50 am
And its also funny that the only ones still mentioning Trask are the Baker fan boys. They are the real “Cult of Trask”…
December 25th, 2023 at 8:51 am
yeah joe, it’s like mayfield is willing this team and it’s rubbing off on them – turning them sorta into a group of dogs…
it’s wild…no one can take on a wolfpack…herd mentality…dog like dogma…
seems like something has happened to this group of buccaneers and they’ve turned the corner as a group…
what a season!
December 25th, 2023 at 8:58 am
I’ve been a Baker fan since he came into the league, and I’ve never hidden that fact. What drives me crazy is when NFL suits and the Haters on this site say that Baker is one of those QBs who really needs talent around him to win. Well, WHAT QB IN THE LEAGUE DOESN’T NEED TALENT AROUND HIM TO WIN?
Name one! Stop all that BS already.
Keep winning Bucs. Keep winning Baker.
Merry Christmas to all …
December 25th, 2023 at 8:58 am
Bbro.. I get where you are coming from. Good luck in trying to find a better Bucs site tho.. Ain’t gonna happen.
December 25th, 2023 at 9:05 am
I’m very happy with the last two games from Baker. He’s heading in the right direction. Call me negative, but I still need more proof before dropping a bunch of money on him and changing the cap dynamics of this team. 5 years of average-to-poor tape still outweights the 8 or 10 games of good tape in his career. But, he looks to be in a zone with Canales. Feels good to have a productive offense again.
Eat all your veggies, Baker.
Happy Holidays, everybody (yes, everybody). Go Bucs!
December 25th, 2023 at 9:09 am
Good riddance. I’m sure there’s a Gators blog somewhere that you can read all about their awesome 5-7 season.
December 25th, 2023 at 9:17 am
Bucs are definitely doing better than the Pats post Brady.
December 25th, 2023 at 9:22 am
He just looked great.
December 25th, 2023 at 9:25 am
Also, Mayfield is on the cusp of making the Glazers pony up for another couple million. Remember his incentives? If the Bucs make the playoffs, Mayfield earns between $1 million to $2 million more, based on whether his snap count is 66, 75, or 85 percent. So the $2M level is looking likely.
December 25th, 2023 at 9:47 am
KiddG_87 Says:
December 25th, 2023 at 5:26 am
Joe what do you think, or take away from Coach Bowles going for it on 4th down more than once and early in the game to be exact?I feel he wanted to establish that Tampa was going to dictate the game the way the wanted
………..,…….
I believe Tom Cruise said it best…”SOMEtimes you just gotta say W.T.F.”
December 25th, 2023 at 9:50 am
Merry Christmas Bucs fans ! It’s a great day. Bucs played 75% very well yesterday. I’m just worried how they finished the game.. I thought defense became complacent and allowed the jags 14 pts. Offense suddenly cant move the ball in the 4th qrtr. I’m afraid they might carried that next week.
December 25th, 2023 at 10:02 am
i’m on the baker train
get er done
December 25th, 2023 at 10:24 am
Don’t know where the Bucs would be with Kyle Trask… No one does.
December 25th, 2023 at 10:54 am
OMG, Baker is Batman. ” My superpower is I never give up”. Well give em he$$ these next couple games and the playoff, Bats!
December 25th, 2023 at 10:55 am
If 6 keeps playing like this we get to the playoffs and win a game we gotta resign him. Honestly if the whole team keeps playing like this you gotta bring everyone back Bowles included. He’s got the team fighting and winning. He’s played more aggressive going for it on 4th down. Idk what happened but if we play like we did last 2 games and win and win a playoff game then he has my respect again. Deff lost faith in Bowles but he’s deff got the team playing hard and good football. Still got WRs running wide open when we play zone. With 3 starting CBs why are we playing zone
December 25th, 2023 at 10:59 am
Or you could just say he is a Swashbuckler and fits in with the Pirate culture
December 25th, 2023 at 11:22 am
Realistic optimist: the zone you’re witnessing is not a mirage . It’s a culmination. It’s mcvay/stafford. It’s shanahan / purdy. It’s mastery through repetition. As long as the components remain intact , what we’re witnessing is only going to continue to trend upward. Not perfection, per se, but trending upward. Like the expert who needs 10k hours to attain mastery, a unit of men needs reps…reps….reps.. to arrive at excellence. Enjoy this ride.
December 25th, 2023 at 11:35 am
Mike C@ a little premature in your pick last night. If Bucs had Flacco they would already be in the PO’s
December 25th, 2023 at 11:49 am
Bbro, too bad this site is a not a home for a Buc love-fest where all is perfect and we all agree how every player is all-pro. Life and the NFL is not like that. There are ups and downs and good and bad. That is what the league is. I , for one, likes to read and post different opinions. Sometimes (often?) opinions differ, like ours.
I don’t know if injuries were involved, but in my opinion as to the obvious team improvement is the substitutions of new talent. Kancey and others are starting and playing more and JTS is on the kickoff team. Should have been done earlier. With his size, speed and body type maybe JTS should try TE.
December 25th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
You think you gotta have a tough hide when you get on a pro sports fan site? This is mellow compared to a political one. Ira is correct. Something intangible happened in the Bucs locker room after they defeated Atlanta. There’s a video of it. Wirfs and Bowles were leading cheers. Go watch the video if you can find it. The energy from there hits you in the face through the computer. Bucs have won every game since then, and the margins are increasing. Their record is 5 games in a row. Why not 6?
December 25th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
@WyomingJoe – SPOT ON!
ALL QB’s need talent around them to win. No one here would argue that the Chiefs do not have a LOT of talent, and a very talented QB. Yet they are currently 9-5, exactly 1 game better than the Buc’s right now… though they could go to 2 games better.
So, wonder what happened? Did the Chiefs suddenly get a lot worse, or is Mahomes in decline? Obviously ridiculous. IT’s a TEAM GAME, people.
December 25th, 2023 at 1:18 pm
Wyoming Joe,
It has been a lonely path we have walked against the Baker Hate Brigade. Glad you were unshakeable. It is fun to see all the haters now negotiating Baker’s Tampa contract for next year. I wonder what any of these QB “experts” are good at? Have a feeling not much, so they scream at the TV set whenever a professional QB makes a mistake.
December 25th, 2023 at 3:05 pm
lanshark,
It is a team game but many of these “fans” don’t get it. They would rather run down Mayfield as compensation for their own inadequacies. Until you have set yourself in the pocket with 5-6 angry men coming at you and trying to hurt you, these “fans” will never know.
December 25th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
Mike C Says:
December 25th, 2023 at 9:17 am
Bucs are definitely doing better than the Pats post Brady.
That’s a great point Mike C – says a lot for our coach and GM.
I so hopeful for Baker, then began to get concerned a bit – but very pleased with his play. I was wrong about him. Is let’s go finish strong!
December 25th, 2023 at 4:07 pm
Thank you couch! These Baker fanbois are the only ones bringing Trask up at this time. Such bitterness because Buc fans were not buying their dribble about his greatness. He barely beat Trask out because he’s the vet plus his history and play this year speaks otherwise. He keeps playing CONSISTENTLY we’ll root for the Bucs then him unlike these non Buc fanbois.
December 25th, 2023 at 7:36 pm
Hey DavidBigBucFan99,
See if you can figure this out.
2023 Stats thru 16 games
Mayfield Mahomes Stafford Prescott
CMP% 64.3% 66.9% 62.0% 68.4%
YDS 3598 3938 3648 3892
TD 26 26 23 30
INT 8 14 9 7
Rating 96.2 91.7 93 104.2
I know you probably majored in English before you got kicked out of college but see if you can grasp the data. You have a lot invested in your Baker hate program so it is hard for you to let go. Shouldn’t be hard, I suspect you are accustomed to a lifetime of failure. I can explain it to you just can’t comprehend it for you. That’s always been a problem–right?
December 25th, 2023 at 8:45 pm
You da man for that past Gipper. Facts!
December 25th, 2023 at 9:07 pm
post*
December 25th, 2023 at 10:27 pm
Kinda wanted Baker last year because of salary cap issues.
Well now he shouldn’t ask for more than 25 million a year.