Baker Mayfield Praised For No “Lollygagging”
September 21st, 2023
Tristan Wirfs
When it comes to converting third downs into first downs, Tampa Bay ranks tied for 8th in the NFL.
It’s been two games of the Bucs staying steady moving the chains, something they didn’t do consistently last season with Tom Brady. The Bucs ranked 19th on third down in 2022.
Today, Bucs beastly left tackle Tristan Wirfs was asked about success on third down this season and first cited his quarterback, Baker Mayfield.
“He’s not kind of lollygagging around around back there; he’s getting the ball where it needs to be,” Wirfs said. “And we’re kind of holding up for him, and he has made guys miss, too, when there’s pressure back there. Just getting the first down, that’s what the biggest thing is.”
Mayfield was getting balls out in a hurry in Week 1, but that slowed down on Sunday. Still, per official NFL NextGen Stats, Mayfield’s “Time to Throw” (snap to release) is an average of 2.73 seconds this season. Offensive coordinator Dave Canales has said the goal is 2.7 seconds.
If Mayfield wants to keep his linemen like Wirfs happy, he’ll keep getting rid of the ball quickly and efficiently. That usually keeps the sacks away.
September 21st, 2023 at 4:35 pm
Now we just need to start calling audibles when there’s 9 guys in the box.
September 21st, 2023 at 4:41 pm
Main difference from last year:
CANALES
Thank God!!!!!!
September 21st, 2023 at 4:43 pm
I said it a few days ago and I’ll say it again: It is a relief to not hear “Holding. Number 76. Ten yard penalty. Repeat third down.”
September 21st, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Baking. +1
September 21st, 2023 at 5:11 pm
J Says:
Now we just need to start calling audibles when there’s 9 guys in the box.
^^^^^^
YES! Drives me nuts. Sean Tucker comes in and the entire defense sucks up. 9 guys in the box. CALL AN AUDIBLE! Baker runs the play, they stuff Tucker at the line, and then Joe writes, “Sean Tucker is struggling.” Inevitably all Joe’s sheep think Tucker sucks because they couldn’t check out of the play the defense was set up for.
September 21st, 2023 at 5:12 pm
The definition of “lollygagging” – To be f***ing around!!
September 21st, 2023 at 5:15 pm
Vea has a pec injury and was limited. Hopefully it is minor and he’s ok or else it’s going to be rough trying to stop the run.
September 21st, 2023 at 5:29 pm
Rome – I still hear it all the time here in KC lol but thank goodness he’s not on our team!
September 21st, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Bakermania
September 21st, 2023 at 5:41 pm
It was just reported here yesterday that the Bucs are 4th worst in the league at going 3 and out.
That doesn’t seem to jive at all with 8th best at converting 3rd downs….
Guess its because of the small sample size of only 2 games…
September 21st, 2023 at 6:24 pm
Translation Of Wirf’s comments: thank goodness we got rid of that POS Brady. Now we have a real QB that we will play hard for and block hard for Great comment! Now that we have a real hall of fame QB we can get a superbowl this town deserves instead of the bullsh*t one we won against that phony KC Chiefs. Go Bucs!!!
September 21st, 2023 at 6:36 pm
Old School Bucs – ummmm what?
September 21st, 2023 at 6:38 pm
Pickgrin … ‘Guess its because of the small sample size of only 2 games’.
Nah. it’s because tons of media folks don’t bother to validate information any longer IMO. Bucs have had 22 total drives in 2 games, and have gone 3-and-out on 6 of them thus far (27.3%). But 4 of them came in the first half of the 1st game against the Vikings (first 6 drives … slow starting off?). Since then, we’ve had only 2 x 3-and-outs in the last 16 drives (12.5%). That might actually lead the league for that stretch.
BTW. came across an interesting stat about 3-and-outs (can’t verify it though). ‘The Overall Average number of 3 & Outs over the past 8 years is 3.92 / Game. About 1 per quarter, and 34.5% of all drives.’ If that be true, Bucs are doing much better than average thus far this year.
September 21st, 2023 at 6:40 pm
Kicking azz and taking names…i just knew we’d get that from him!
September 21st, 2023 at 6:43 pm
@ SlyPirate – well that’s been the problem when Tucker checks in the opposing defense knows it’s a run and sells out.
Makes me think either his hands are cr@p, or else his pass blocking is. Why else wouldn’t they run some play action out of that once in a while?
September 21st, 2023 at 6:50 pm
We can’t stop praising Baker, enough.
He’s already 2-0, against winless teams.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:12 pm
Unbelievable … ‘that’s been the problem when Tucker checks in the opposing defense knows it’s a run and sells out.’
Hmmm, maybe we should bring RoJo back then. No one would ever guess he was gonna run as opposed to catch a pass.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:15 pm
Beer Whisperer … If the Bucs can beat all the teams they should beat (based on Vegas odds) and win just half of the games we’re underdogs on, we’ll have a very good year.
Oh wait, we’re already ahead of that curve. Good job Bucs.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:31 pm
“It was just reported here yesterday that the Bucs are 4th worst in the league at going 3 and out.
That doesn’t seem to jive at all with 8th best at converting 3rd downs….”
It can jive. I’m not saying this is the reason, but say a team has 3 drives that go three and out (0 for 3 on third downs) then the team has a methodical drive that starts at the 20 and goes for a touchdown but they only pick up the 10 yards exactly and use all three downs for every set of downs (7 for 7). That would leave them 7 for 10 on third downs, which is a good percentage. An extreme example, but sustaining drives will give multiple third down attempts which will raise a team’s 3rd down percentage even if they have a few three and outs.
September 21st, 2023 at 10:00 pm
StickinUp4Centers,
Those numbers obviously weren’t looked at by a data analyst. I think the actual number was tied for 7th. They aren’t 4th worst. Poor analysis by whomever wrote the article.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:27 pm
Is it me or do the Bucs run a very similar offense as the 49ers?
September 21st, 2023 at 11:43 pm
Mayfield was getting balls out in a hurry in Week 1, but that slowed down on Sunday. Still, per official NFL NextGen Stats, Mayfield’s “Time to Throw” (snap to release) is an average of 2.73 seconds this season. Offensive coordinator Dave Canales has said the goal is 2.7 seconds.
———-
I saw that too, and was surprised since even the Bears players were talking about how fast Mayfield was getting the ball out. I think what threw off the stats were those few plays where he broke a tackle before getting the ball out – those plays can really mess up the figures. I’d be interested to know what his time was if you take those two broken sacks out – because if he had been sacked, then those plays wouldn’t have counted, and most QBs would have been sacked.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:46 pm
Mike S – If you go back to the Steve Young days, and remove the FB and replace him with a 3rd WR or 2nd TE, then yeah, it does sort of remind me of that. I don’t know the origins of this Seattle offense, but I assume it’s a branch of the west coast scheme – but not the same branch as, say, someone like Gruden ran.
September 21st, 2023 at 11:51 pm
SlyPirate Says: Sean Tucker comes in and the entire defense sucks up. 9 guys in the box. CALL AN AUDIBLE! Baker runs the play, they stuff Tucker at the line, and then Joe writes, “Sean Tucker is struggling.” Inevitably all Joe’s sheep think Tucker sucks because they couldn’t check out of the play the defense was set up for.
————
I’m not that big of a fan of Tucker, I think he’s just a guy – not impressed by his college tape or what I’ve seen, but I will agree with you on this. A big part of the problem is when Tucker came in vs Chicago, Bowles had decided he’d run out the clock starting on the last drive in the 3rd quarter. It was so obvious the Bears just sat on the run, knowing what was coming.
You’re correct, they need to audible out of out, to keep the defense honest, but I guarantee they got their orders right from the top, to run clock, no matter what. It’s how Bowles took a game that the Bucs should have won by 24 points, and made it a 3 point game.
But, going back to Tucker, if there isn’t blocking, if the runner isn’t missing holes and is getting hit by 3 guys behind the LOS, there isn’t anything he can do unless his name is Barry Sanders.
September 22nd, 2023 at 1:00 am
Bad against the Vikes really slanted thet stat Joe. We struggled against the wild blitzes and 8 man boxes. Canales will get that figured ou hopefully.
Go Bucs!
September 22nd, 2023 at 5:30 am
We are converting 3rd and longs. Good plays by OC and QB on the ball.
September 22nd, 2023 at 7:46 am
Let’s not forget Minn secondary is horrid and bears were missing two starting safeties. That can’t hurt the stat. Is the preference for Baker to get the ball out fast because Bucs still don’t have confidence in the oline?
September 22nd, 2023 at 8:06 am
67 is the new 76 for the holding calls