Did Baker Mayfield Benefit From A “Perfect Storm?”
January 31st, 2025
No respect.
As you no doubt heard in the latest “Ira Kaufman Podcast” where Ira welcomed JoeBucsFan.com draft guru Sean Sullivan, the age-old “Baker Mayfield doesn’t get any respect” narrative cropped up.
Mayfield had an incredible season this season and in Joe’s mind was a top-three quarterback in the NFC. Maybe top-two. Yet he was only an alternate in that bastardized Pro Bowl.
Insert your Rodney Dangerfield one-liner.
(“Why, my wife is such a bad cook, the flies pitch in to fix the hole in the screen door.”)
Now the Mayfield story Joe links to below is tied to fantasy football, Joe gets it. (As always, Joe’s idea of fantasy has absolutely nothing to do with football.) But the gist of the excerpt Joe has is more of the same: Mayfield had a nice year and he’s a nice quarterback but he’s no Lamar Jackson.
Daniel Kelley of FTN says Mayfield benefitted so much from what the Bucs did right, and even from what the Bucs did wrong in 2024.
It was a perfect storm for Mayfield in 2024 — a diminished Tampa defense that led to high-offense game scripts, an offensive system that worked in his favor, and more rushing success than Mayfield has ever had before. Before 2024, he hadn’t ever run for more than 165 yards in a season and hadn’t had more than 1 rushing score since 2019, but he set a career-high with 378 yards last year and scored three times on the ground.
That’s a bad thing? So Mayfield played better because the offense fit him and a strong running game made defenses play more honestly? The nerve of Mayfield!
What does Kelley think Mayfield is supposed to do, lay down and tank because his offense is better?
Did Kelly apply the same standards to Jackson in Baltimore because he finally has good receivers and just this year had a Hall of Fame running back? You and Joe know the answer to that.
Besides, Mayfield posted solid numbers and played well when both of his stud receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, were each out with injuries.
If anything, Mayfield should be applauded. Folks shouldn’t look under rocks for reasons to knock him.
Sullivan railed on Ira’s pod about the lack of respect Mayfield gets. Joe said what Joe has claimed for well over a year: way too many folks think of Mayfield as the struggling Browns quarterback or the Stinking Panthers quarterback that hit rock bottom.
And because of that, it would take Mayfield at least three consecutive strong seasons to bury his past image and reputation.
January 31st, 2025 at 10:41 am
NFL teams cant seem to process that Baker Mayfield is a great quarterback….so instead they hire all his OCs cause they think his they’re are the reason for his success.
Belichick said it the other day, the players are the ones responsible when a team has success and argued they should name it the “Brady trophy” instead of Lombardi.
Baker and the other great players on offense are the reason for the success….not Dave Canales or that Duvaaalll clown.
January 31st, 2025 at 10:44 am
He definitely looks really good out there. Durable too. Some of these QBs like Joe Burrow that guy that plays for the Cardinals just can’t stay on the field.
January 31st, 2025 at 10:52 am
Pound for pound Mayfield is the toughest QB in the league. Josh Allen is probably tougher but then again he’s way bigger. Some of it is attitude but there’s definitely a certain amount of paint tolerance there. He took some shots last season that made me cringe and kept on playing.
January 31st, 2025 at 11:03 am
Wait, so a bad D somehow BENEFITTED Baker?? Make it make sense. If anything, if we had even an average D we win 13-14 games and Baker is in the convo for MVP. So this is a heap of dung.
January 31st, 2025 at 11:05 am
“And because of that, it would take Mayfield at least three consecutive strong seasons to bury his past image and reputation.”
I’m not sure they will ever give him his due.
Year 1 in Tampa: Dave Canales was the genius behind it
Year 2 in Tampa: The Sepiente was the genius behind it
Year 3-? in Tampa: Insert here whatever you want it and stand behind it
He is a good/great QB that can lead a tem to the SUper Bowl and win it, but that’s too painful for some of those to admit it
Go Bucs
January 31st, 2025 at 11:22 am
Never will forget the media this season being all about Cousins before the season even began, and then that fizzled. Even though we lost to the Falcons, Baker outshone him throughout the season. Baker is the real deal. I think it was written on here before, Baker is Houdini on the field. He sure is. We are so lucky to have Baker as our QB.
January 31st, 2025 at 11:29 am
All he does and all he is going to do is compete and put his team in position to win. If he only had a defense that could make a stop at the end of games. Thank you Anthony Nelson, you’re it.
January 31st, 2025 at 11:30 am
And luckiest of all, when he came into the league, it was with a powerhouse that had won one game in its previous thirty-two. Without that winning culture, he never would have made it.
January 31st, 2025 at 11:33 am
The defense was not up to par. Baker played great when his team needed more points.
Who wants a quarterback like that?
January 31st, 2025 at 11:34 am
Just read a story two days ago on CBS where it was typed that Cousins would be better off with a new team. LOL
Oh, how the mighty have fallen! From a franchise savior who will lead Atlanta to the Super Bowl to getting benched in a playoff chase and needing a new team within nine months! ROTFLMAO!!!
January 31st, 2025 at 12:11 pm
I have some leftover clown makeup for Daniel Kelley just let me know where to ship it.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:12 pm
Just read a story two days ago on CBS where it was typed that Cousins would be better off with a new team. LOL
Oh, how the mighty have fallen! From a franchise savior who will lead Atlanta to the Super Bowl to getting benched in a playoff chase and needing a new team within nine months! ROTFLMAO!!!
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cousins definitely benefited from the weapons he had around him in minnesota. just watching what they did without him should prove that. the rest of the team made him look like a $180 mil qb and made sam darnold look like an mvp.
baker has been successful without a running game (last season) and without his top receivers for multiple games this season. he was better in cleveland when his #1 receiver was injured.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:15 pm
Baker the King Maker
January 31st, 2025 at 12:23 pm
While I think Canales and Coen contributed to the offensive success, Belichick is right. It really comes down to the players. The Bucs have: top 5 QB, HOF WR, top 5 o-line, strong RB room. At some point folks will realize that a competent OC can look like a genius with this talent.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:30 pm
“Oh how the mighty have fallen!” Good one Joe.
I think you may have posted that CBS article for all of us to read on, “Morning Cup of Joe” possibly. Seems like I recall reading that he and AR both would benefit being on another team. Maybe I am dreaming, lol. It’s Friday. Time for the both of them to give it up now. It could become embarrassing in the long run.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:32 pm
Love the national media hate of Baker. The bulletin board material he feeds on. These are the same idiots that said Bakers peak came under Canales.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:45 pm
Mobucs, you summarized Baker’s journey perfectly in just a few words. Great take! He was slandered by local and national media and then almost blackballed by the league. Eventually all the BS narratives filtered down to the fandom in general. He has had to overcome a lot to get to where he is currently and sadly he may never completely change some people’s perception.
January 31st, 2025 at 12:51 pm
Could you imagine what Baker’s numbers would look like had Pete Carroll come to the Bucs?
January 31st, 2025 at 1:21 pm
Crickets from the Baker haters. 😆
January 31st, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Haha. Dumb as*. Mayfield was a top 5 player in my fantasy league. Here are the real stats, Baker: 41 passing TDs (44 total), 4500 passing yards (4878 total), 71.5% completion. Lamar: 4172 passing yards (5087 total), 41 passing tds (45 total), 66.7% completion. The biggest difference was INTs 12 v 4.
January 31st, 2025 at 1:27 pm
We should discount Lamar’s rushing numbers for being in a run heavy offense.
January 31st, 2025 at 1:30 pm
Joe, you are digging too hard for insult. Would it benefit your sensitive nature better if it was rephrased from “a perfect storm” to “the stars finally aligned” for Baker? The rest is just a regurgitation of stats. With that said, I did not read the full context but come on man stop boohooing over who got a bigger slice of cake
January 31st, 2025 at 1:31 pm
Now on other accounts…probowl snub, I agree, but this?
January 31st, 2025 at 1:43 pm
Not a fluke. Bonified top QB
January 31st, 2025 at 1:58 pm
He’s one of only 3 QBs in league history to play with a Hall of Fame OT and WR at the same time.
January 31st, 2025 at 2:02 pm
I b a big baker guy long before his arrival in Tampa but I will say his # were so goooood he will have a hard time this season to overly improve them stats just to duplicate wud b amazing
January 31st, 2025 at 2:02 pm
everyone respects baker………….except rod the rug muncher 🙂
January 31st, 2025 at 2:04 pm
Baker haters r long gone MIA
January 31st, 2025 at 2:24 pm
4500 yards and 44 total TDs!
How many QBs in the history of the league have had those numbers in even 1 season? Not many I’m guessing – and the list will read like a who’s who of great QBs – Brady, Manning, Marino, etc… Joe Burrow also did it this year.
In 2024, Baker made the Bucs offense look good more often than the offense made Baker look good – IMO
January 31st, 2025 at 3:10 pm
OK I’m tossing a crouton to those who dislike Bowles because of “ahem” as GG puts it.
It took a long time before the NFL actually embraced black QB’s because they claimed they were not “smart” enough. OK that’s called overt R.
But there is a lot of subtle R as well and sometimes IMHO it’s just a form of reverse R. Nothing to get crazy about but enough to make this observation.
Baker does not look like Brady or any conventional QB. He does not look like Mahomes or Jackson or the typical, replace the old smart, with athletic QB’s.
The media cannot pigeonhole him easily and so they frequently again only IMHO fall into this subtle form of R. Bakers succeeds with his heart and competive fire. And again ONLY my opinion his running is not that far from what JW did for the Bucs. I remember being frequently shocked at how such a SLOW lumbering dude could be such an effective runner, but give the devil his due, when trapped, just like Baker, Fameis found a way with grit and determination and heart!
We seem in America to homogenize everything to the point of ignoring any individuality whether it’s a black or white player. All QBs do not have to succeed the same way. More than one way to git er done!!!
January 31st, 2025 at 3:38 pm
So tired of the struggling Browns quarterback bull. Baker was not a struggling QB in Cleveland he was a very efficient quarterback who asked for the most difficult job in the league. Played hurt and carried himself like a great leader and a great man who got a knife stuck in his back by the Browns criminal owner named Jimmy Haslem who along with coaching and management brought in the biggest locker room buster in football to not only ruin Baskets football career in Cleveland to bring in a sexually prescription but to Ruby how personal reputation as well. And they used that person Often Bechh Jr and his body Jarvis to do it because they w
January 31st, 2025 at 3:50 pm
Baker was never a struggling quarterback in Cleveland. He was the best things that happened to Cleveland in 25 years and he was a great leader and immersed himself in Cleveland culture. He played hurt and he never had a team built around his strengths. He was screwed by ownership coaching and management when they chose to bring locker room buster Odell in and along with his pal Jarvis, they attempted to destroy both Bakers football career and his personal life to pave the way for the predator. He is the toughest competitor I have ever watched. He is the only player I am aware of to walk on at not 1 but 2 colleges and take the starting QB position. He was is and always will be elite and is far better than some of the qb’s rated above him. BTW Baker and Lamar have the same amount of superbowl wins. Zero . So how much better is Lamar when he had far better talent surrounding him? IMO not at all.
January 31st, 2025 at 4:02 pm
Right on, Becky. Many fans there really liked Baker, still do. Their owner made a huge judgement in error when he let Baker go in lieu of who he got. And all that money they gave to the other guy that may not be playing this season either. Loved Baker’s commercials there too. So lucky we got him as our QB.
January 31st, 2025 at 5:37 pm
Mayfield is the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL. He gets no respect! He did a fantastic job last year, learning another new offense and getting all the offensive players on the same page. The injuries to Godwin and Evans were devastating at the time but Mayfield soldiered on and played like a top tier quarterback. Easily one of the top three QB’s in the league.