It’s perfectly fine to criticize Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield for a lot of things. He does take too many risks with the ball that lead to bad interceptions. He does seem to get dinged up too often. He does start seasons strong and stumbles down the stretch.
One thing Mayfield doesn’t do? Deflect blame. Which might be the most admirable quality any NFL quarterback could have.
He showed that kind of character again in defending embattled head coach Todd Bowles, who finds himself firmly on the hot seat following consecutive NFC South Division home losses to the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.
The Buccaneers led the Falcons by 14 points with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before Atlanta scored 15 unanswered points for a 29-28 win.
“The easy thing to do is blame the defense,” Mayfield said on Wednesday, December 17. “It comes down to the offense. We were up by 14 points. Blame me. Don’t blame Todd.”
While the Buccaneers have lost 5 of their last 6 games to drop to 7-7 overall they still control their own playoff fates. If Tampa Bay can defeat the Carolina Panthers on the road in Week 16, their playoff chances go up to 95 percent and the Panthers goes down to 5 percent, according to NFL.com.
Mayfield, Bowles Both Have Plenty at Stake
You can make an argument no one is playing for higher stakes over the final 3 games of the regular season than Mayfield and Bowles — which is probably a big reason why they’re both so sympathetic to the other’s plight right now.
Bowles is almost certainly coaching for his job over the final 3 games. It’s not unreasonable to think Bowles needs, at the very least, to win out and win at least one playoff game — likely an NFC Wild Card Round game at home.
Mayfield, who seemed like a lock for a massive contract extension in the near future, now likely gets to just play out the final season of the 3-year, $100 million contract he signed before the 2024 season.
“I’m sure Baker Mayfield was thinking if he played well, he’s got one year left on his deal, they may tear that up and give him a long-term extension,” Buccaneers Reporter Rick Stroud said on the Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast on December 12. “I wouldn’t now. He’d be playing out the contract. Because I’m not sure he can win unless I surround hi witht he best players in the league. He makes plays, but then he makes bad plays. And he wears down.”
Bowles Coming Off Meltdown for the Ages
Bowles had the kind of public meltdown we’ll probably see online for the next 20 years following the loss to the Falcons, keeping TV censors honest with an expletive-filled press conference.
“You don’t make excuses,” Bowles said to the assembled media. “You got to f—ing care enough where the s— hurts. It’s got to f—ing mean something to you. It’s more than a job. It’s your f—ing livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that s—.”
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