“It’s A Great Team; Everybody’s On The Same Page”
October 1st, 2023
Baker Mayfield was asked an interesting question after today’s blowout Bucs win in New Orleans.
It seemed to come from a Saints or national reporter.
“What do you attribute to the fact that you’ve had issues with turnovers but you’ve been fantastic this year? What has changed for you, and you’re playing with obviously more confidence?
“It’s a great team; Everbody’s on the same page,” Mayfield replied. “And just, everybody’s doing their job. It comes down to little details when you’re playing against a good team like [the Saints]. Obviously, I’d like to have that one throw (interception) back today, but that’s a physical error. That wasn’t anything mental. That was just a bad throw.”
Intriguing answer. If Mayfield views the Bucs as “a great team” playing in unison, that surely will fuel his confidence.
Mayfield also added how well the Bucs are “paying attention in meetings [and] practice.”
There were train wreck situations for Mayfield in Cleveland, at times, and certainly in Carolina. Joe assumes things were on solid ground for Mayfield with the Rams, but Joe has been told there was at least one signficant locker room issue there when Mayfield arrived late last season.
Perhaps Tampa Bay is the perfect clean slate for Mayfield, and a team still largely operating with Tom Brady-style professionalism in the building.
October 1st, 2023 at 6:38 pm
I am starting to believe in him.
October 1st, 2023 at 6:39 pm
Joe….6yrs, $200 million for Baker?
October 1st, 2023 at 6:40 pm
Bingo, Joe, you did your homework. CLE was dysfunctional as hell with OBJ. This here is a good team playing complimentary ball, and Bowles makes sure he stresses the team part
October 1st, 2023 at 6:41 pm
I asked a guy from Ohio before the season what he thought of Baker… He said his best years were in front of him… So far so good…
October 1st, 2023 at 6:46 pm
“It’s a great team; Everbody’s on the same page,” Mayfield replied.
Our sweet as cake pass rush and swiss cheese punt coverage disagree!
October 1st, 2023 at 6:53 pm
Baker ($8.5 millon) > Burrow ($141 millon)
October 1st, 2023 at 6:55 pm
Jeagan1999 Says:
October 1st, 2023 at 6:39 pm
It’s a little early to be throwing those kinda numbers around. Let’s see if he can maintain it for the entire season.
October 1st, 2023 at 7:06 pm
Jack Clark
Our 26-9 score says you’re a troll.
October 1st, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Believing in the Bucs bringing in Baker….
Hopefully Bucs QB for years to come!
October 1st, 2023 at 7:07 pm
Yea!! Wish they had played like a great team Monday night. That’s a solid win anytime we have a chance to stick it to the saints while talking a lead in the division.
Great win Bucs, that’s how you eat a W picking off Winston’s one and only pass hahaha
October 1st, 2023 at 7:19 pm
He’s going to get paid.
October 1st, 2023 at 7:27 pm
Told all the Baker Haters during training camp and the pre-season that Baker was a franchise QB and his best years were in front of him. He got screwed by the Browns after his injury, and then got traded to the worst team in the NFL. Thank God the Bucs gave him this great opportunity. He’s just shown a taste of what he can do, and the Bucs have just begun to show the NFL what they’re capable of. Btw, where are all the Baker Haters tonight? Go Bucs!
October 1st, 2023 at 7:32 pm
I am on the Bakertrain….. I thought he was kinda being dumb before, but if he can scramble like this and likes it..”.then it’s all good. Looks like he likes it.
October 1st, 2023 at 7:45 pm
Happy for Coach hes a good man
October 1st, 2023 at 7:45 pm
ModHairKen … ‘He’s going to get paid.’
Providing he keeps playing like he’s been playing for these first 4 games, yes he will get paid. It just might not be by the Bucs. Largely depends on Baker himself, and how much he believes he’s worth, assuming he has a great season of course.
Geno Smith had a similar rough few early years, but broke out last year (69.8% completion rate for 4282 passing yards, 30 TDs & only 11 INTs). As Joe wrote earlier, Baker Mayfield is currently sporting a 69.6% completion rate and is on-track for getting 3748 passing yards, 29 TDs & only 8 INTs. Very similar stats on the season IOW.
Geno was rewarded with a new 3-year contract worth a total of $105 mil … an average of $35 mil per year. Probably unrealistic to expect that Baker would agree to any less. Question then becomes … ‘Where are the Bucs gonna find that kind of money with so many other mouths to feed, like Wirfs, Winfield, White & a bunch of others currently on 1-year contracts?
October 1st, 2023 at 7:49 pm
After today i am all in. The one int in the end zone was more on play calling
October 1st, 2023 at 7:51 pm
Mayfield has been playing well but the Saints aren’t a great team. It’s a little early to give them guy a monster contract. Let’s see how he plays the rest of the season.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:05 pm
Oline, able to run, and defense. A winning formula to win games. Long time waiting for this under bowles!!! The Saints aren’t a great team, so lets see if they can keep it going against the better teams.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:09 pm
Canales is keeping it as simple as possible for him. Quick Short and intermediate passes with YAC. Boy they could have beat the 49ers today.
Win the division because there won’t be a Wild Card coming out of the NFC South. Today the Bucs look like the 7th or 8th best team in the NFC so winning the division is crucial.
As far as Mayfield minding his manners? He doesn’t really have choice. No where else to go.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:09 pm
I wanna know what that locker room issue was, Joe… Was it Stafford?
October 1st, 2023 at 8:12 pm
Texted my son in the Navy over in Bahrain. He’s a big Browns fan, currently lives in Columbus when he gets back home, but he spent a couple of years in Cleveland as well.
When I texted him earlier this week about Baker blowing up for the Bucs he said yeah and now the Cleveland fans are griping for letting him go.
And yes Trask to the Future the Saints aren’t a “great” team but they are a good team, at least they have a solid D, Kamara and other skill players on offense.
So how many “great teams are there right now in the NFL? KC, Philly, SF, am I leaving one out…Cincy and Buffalo and maybe the Lions are a tier below those three IMHO.
So the Bucs are now 3-0 against all but the great teams. Even if they lose to the Lions and Niners they have 11 winnable games. Go 8-3 against those teams who some people here would say Baker lucked out against bad teams and the Bucs will have had an excellent 11-6 season and oh btw improve on last year’s LOSING 8-9 record…8-10 if you count the playoffs. I mean if the Saints “aren’t a great team” what does that make the Falcons and Panthers?
A question for all the folks here hating on Baker…STILL…how many wins do the Bucs need before you STFU?
Bottom line
October 1st, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Another great TEAM win. When everyone does their job, this team looks like a winner! Even with key pieces missing due to injuries! So far so good!
October 1st, 2023 at 8:45 pm
Scraped by another bad team. Defense bails out a terrible interception in the red zone by baker. But people already want him as the franchise QB… count on years of mediocrity if thats the case.
October 1st, 2023 at 8:56 pm
Hope the cap bank is ready to start issuing checks next year
October 1st, 2023 at 9:00 pm
It is still far too soon to declare anything about this team, other than the easy fact that they are better than the Aints, a team that has regressed, with a bad QB in Derek “180wassup” Carr. Those of you who feared his addition in the offseason deserve big laughter. Aints are easy pickings for any team with half a pulse.
As for Mayfield. All he has done is prove that he is better than Trask, and not a total disaster. He’s exceeding low hurdles. Let’s see how the rest of the season goes.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:12 pm
Baker’s fan coming out after defeating another team with a lousy trash qb. Let’s see Bucs defeat;
1-3 Vikings – W Qb-Cousins-Overrated-Trash qb
0-4 Chicago -W Qb-Justin F.-Trash qb
2-2 Saints – W Qb-Derek C. -Trash qb
Lose to 4-0 Eagles-L Qb-Jalen H. -good qb
Bucs with Baker is good enough to beat inferior teams just to get to playoff and getting kicked out in first round.
October 1st, 2023 at 9:19 pm
Start Yaya trade JTS he gives up on to many plays
October 1st, 2023 at 9:46 pm
Amen Wyoming j
FT
Go bucs
October 1st, 2023 at 9:56 pm
I rarely get to WATCH these games, as I live in VA, but I noticed today that Trask and Baker do NOT sit near each other as Brady/Gabbert did… I find that troubling
October 1st, 2023 at 9:59 pm
Joe…Care to elaborate on the issue baker had in the rams locker room? I followed baker from CLE to CAR and LA. This is thenfirst I have heard of any issue other than him joking with Jefferson about being passed that Jefferson didn’t go to Oklahoma after baker was his tour guide.
Inquiring minds want to know.
October 1st, 2023 at 10:06 pm
Some of you commenters are so weird. I don’t mean that ironically, I mean like literally weird. It’s one thing to have a different perspective, a different opinion, but some of the stuff I’m reading is laughably dense, dumb. The barely cogent, largely incoherent ramblings that are not in touch with reality continues to make me pessimistic of people in general. Lay off the opiates and drugs people
October 1st, 2023 at 10:13 pm
He won the Heisman. SI says he’s the greatest college QB since 2000. He’s the real deal who unfortunately got drafted by the stinking Browns and unfortunately went to the terrible Panthers. I’ve been telling y’all that I’ve been watching this kid since his first game as a Sooner. Listen once and for all: HIS TEAMS DON”T LOSE BECAUSE OF HIM!!!!!!!!!
October 1st, 2023 at 10:14 pm
You get drafted high for a reason. You’re good but the team sucks. Eventually you get put into a good system
October 1st, 2023 at 10:40 pm
Right now the dude’s pocket awareness and escapability is nearly insane.
October 1st, 2023 at 10:46 pm
I read this post here a few weeks ago:
Saints signed a QB to a 4 year 150 million contract this season. Bucs spent 4. Even if you consider Mayfield a 20 mil a year QB (what he was due the year he joined the Jeff George / Jamarcus Russell Club) that is 17 million dollars less than the toughest competition in the division.
I guess we could “make excuses” for that $150 million QB, since he had a sore shoulder today. Then again Bake had a torn shoulder through 2021, so yeah there’s that.
October 1st, 2023 at 11:15 pm
The little school children bantering about Baker and Trask because of your college affiliations are so remedial. Trask out played Baker in practice and pre season but didn’t have any NFL experience. Baker’s past performance has been there for everyone to see its not made up. Those of us who didn’t buy into Baker had the right but now the man is balling and definitely making us look forward to watching our team. Just wish Wyoming Joe with his Baker man crush would follow NE fan and go away. You’re not even a Bucs fan and most of us don’t care what you think
October 1st, 2023 at 11:16 pm
Refs stealing another one for KC. That PI call was just insane. But not surprising. Refs protect mahomes in the 4th quarter! Every big game, if you want to beat the Chiefs you have to win big!!! The refs will not let a team beat em close!
October 1st, 2023 at 11:16 pm
Here’s the thing on Baker … We’re the only market he has. Bucs or $6-8M as a backup anywhere else.
October 1st, 2023 at 11:19 pm
Who are the SEVEN (NFC) Teams who are better, D Cone???
October 1st, 2023 at 11:38 pm
Baker’s fans already requesting Bucs to sign Baker with a contract extension before he lays eggs against better teams and real lousy league rejected Baker comes out.
Not as fast. Bucs organization is not as humble and crass as you think. Although I am happy for Bucs to have a 3-1 recored before a by week.
Baker has not accomplished anything that he hadn’t done before. Defeating three teams with non-winning record and losing to the one with winning record. No one outside of city of Tampa limit was and will be interested to sign Baker as a NFL starter with ordinary salary.
October 1st, 2023 at 11:41 pm
Wyomingjoe I hope he plays this way all season. Big prob if he does tho. Bucs can’t afford the price tag. If he doesn’t and shouldn’t give us a discount Bucs can’t afford to pay him. Lots of other players gotta get paid too. Can’t let wirfs or Winfield walk. Idk about DW45 walking but baker is prob more of a priority then him at least but DW45 is the QB of the defense LVD isn’t going to be around for ever so we can’t just thro out 2 good to great linebackers. Not enough money to go around so if baker walks after this year then we are right back at square 1 and that’s why I was rooting for trask to get to play. Give him a couple seasons of starting and see how he develops. Go baker go Bucs
October 1st, 2023 at 11:42 pm
the REASON they have non-winning records is US
October 1st, 2023 at 11:47 pm
David,
No one was there for 60% of practices. Joes reporting is a sliver in time. Canales himself said trask jumped ahead but baker finished stronger and ahead.
Preseason, how in the heck can anyone say trask outplayed baker in preseason.
Baker played like 4 series, scored all of them and trask took 84 qtrs of preseason to score 28pts .
The other thing people on the trask bandwagon miss is the words from the coaches mouths. They’ve repeatedly said trask had issues running the offense in practice. Over and over again and yet this huge problem flys right over everyone’s heads. How?
I got nothing against trask and not a huge bake fan. But comparing apples to apples. Trask hasn’t played much ball since jv season. He never won out a qb competition and started . Baker walks on to two big programs and wins the job outright. Did it again here. Kyle never has and you think he did something to win preseason? Cmon man!
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:01 am
I don’t understand WHY all of these people are worried about what we’re going to do NEXT Year, especially with concerning Baker and his next contract!? We Are Just ‘FOUR-Games’ in… It’s entirely irrelevant, at this point. WHO CARES!? Whatever happens will happen. Good GOD. Enjoy-it for right now!!!! Geeeez. We have plentyyyyy of time to figure all of that out when we get there.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:03 am
@Old School-
The Chiefs were also holding against Johnson on one of those huge Mahomes runs, but of course it wasn’t called…
So much bad officiating these days, as Bucs fans well know. At least they finally made one up to us today with that 1 yard placement on the INT.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:08 am
Seriously, Baker’s future contract is the very LEAST of our worries or concern right now!!!! 💯
October 2nd, 2023 at 1:26 am
I will acknowledge that I have been a professional Baker hater. I didn’t like his personality or his play in Cleveland. My philosophy was to let trask go and if we sucked we sucked. Then we draft a QB with a top 5 pick. But I must admit that I am pleasantly surprised with him. If he can keep this up he may be worth keeping for a few years
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:25 am
@unbelievable & @Old School: you must have watched/listened to the Bucs for decades, and are genuine fans like me. It’s no secret that Bucs have to be coached to beat the refs as well as the opposing team. Tony Dungy knew it, and I’m hoping Bowles and Canales are realizing it. BM is playing pretty good for a dollar store QB. Plus, I really like his feistiness. 🙂
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:27 am
There’s a lot to be said about good or bad matches between individual players and their teammates and coaches. Players not infrequently blossom after seeing a change in their team when they get a better match. Baker Mayfield played on really bad Browns teams, and a really bad Panthers team that ended up firing the entire coaching staff. Then he went to the Rams, a good franchise with great coaching, and he did well in a replacement role. Then he came to the Bucs in what appears to be a great match between him and his coaches and teammates.
This only goes to reinforce the fact that football is a team sport – and not a contest between quarterbacks, as the media constantly attempts to portray is so that they can create heroes and villains to draw mouse clicks and ratings points. A quarterback can elevate a team certainly, or depress his team. But he cannot turn a bad team into a good team all by himself.
We’ve still got a lot of games to play this season so it’s far too early to be making firm judgments, but Bucs fans like what we’re seeing so far, as long as we can keep winning games. Because the ultimate judgment is Ws vs. Ls.
October 2nd, 2023 at 9:12 am
Never realized their were so many casual fans in Tampa. This is nothing new for Bake. All he needed was a team that let him do what he does and not try and change him for a system that never worked in Cleveland .look at them now. Carolina shows they are a dysfunctional franchise as they ha e thrown their rookie QB to the wolves.
This is who Baker has always been….judging from a couch is why so many fans have no clue.
October 2nd, 2023 at 11:13 am
@orlbucsfan – 💯
We got one season with Brady were the refs finally, somewhat, backed off our arses. But it was only that one season. I mean just look back at those 2 personal foul calls against us early in the Rams playoff loss in 2021 – Suh gets kicked by the Rams and somehow he gets flagged, Brady is literally bleeding from his mouth and he got flagged…
I’m so sick of playing the refs every week, but as a lifelong Bucs fan, I am used to it.
October 2nd, 2023 at 12:44 pm
If Mayfield keeps it up and this team earns a playoff spot, obviously Mayfield deserves to be paid. But I think he would be making a huge mistake taking more money to go somewhere else assuming the Bucs want him to go team friendly. I don’t think Baker would do that though, he’s been with garbage organizations, he wants stability and an opportunity to be the guy. He’s found it in Tampa and hopefully this is just the beginning on a beautiful relationship. We have a lot of great players that need to be signed next year.
October 2nd, 2023 at 1:02 pm
@David
“Baker has not accomplished anything that he hadn’t done before.”
Actually he’s accomplished far less than he has before but you Baker haters refuse to surrender your bias.
He finished second in the rookie of the year balloting to Saquaon Barkley.
Is that something?
He went 11-5 his 3 rd year with a sorry franchise reaching the playoffs for the first time in decades for the Browns.
Is that something?
In the playoffs he went on the road to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers.
Is that something?
He then lost narrowly to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Is that something.
So David it’s clear you decided to hate on Baker no matter what. If the Bucs win 11 and advance a round or even two but not the SB would that be good enough or simply lucky?
October 2nd, 2023 at 1:10 pm
Baker has won over every coach and player at this point. He’s matured dramatically and he’s as relaxed as I’ve ever seen him. And that’s with a bad run game.
He’s throwing dimes all over the place. Couldn’t be more pleasantly surprised. 3-1 at the bye!
Gonna be a nice 2 weeks.
October 2nd, 2023 at 2:01 pm
If any of you are asking if Baker still has A LOT to prove, the answer is YES.
St. Pete has a great example of what he has accomplished and it’s an impressive and respectable list of achievements.
BECAUSE WHAT ELSE IS SOMETHING IS….
On the other hand… Someone else has a list of the Fails he has to his name including last year’s QB ratings and a VERY UNIMPRESSIVE list of Interceptions sprinkled throughout his career. NOT getting along with co workers and so on…
So for me the answer is WE WILL CONTINUE TO SEE if Baker can have a REAL Story Book “TURN AROUND” for the ages!
Me? Concerning Baker? I’M ROOTING FOR HIM! He’s WINNING Me Over…
And as far as the FOOLS whom are disrespecting Trask and Those who supported him…. REALLY?
BACKOFF the guy. HE DID BEAT BAKER (with the exception of a two week period In The Beginning of camp) pretty much from All through camp to the End of Preseason! SO STOP TRYING TO CHANGE HISTORY! Trask is WELL DOCUMENTED WHIPPING BAKER THROUGH MORE THAN JOES EYES! He’s also chronicled through MANY OTHERS including Pewter Report, Buc Nation and MULTIPLE others that aren’t usually talking about us at all. INCLUDING separate write ups on the matter Right Here on Joe Bucs Fan on the blow by blow of the “camp battles”
Baker must won it in another way. We All Know that it was his experience that put the finger on the scales… He didn’t beat Trask in Any Other Way!
Remember the article with Carlton Davis’ EYES Popping Out? Remember that one? YES YOU DO!
Go Baker! Go Trask! GO BUCS!
October 3rd, 2023 at 6:27 pm
This game was put up or shut up and the Bucs put up against a good defense, snapped their record of low points or whatever and shut that mouthy loser Jordan. Trying to say we wouldn’t be a problem but the falcons would be?