Baker Mayfield Has Shocked Everyone…But For The Wrong Reasons

It was just about one month ago when Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield profoundly claimed that the Bucs were going to shock everybody with their play.

“I think we’re gonna shock a lot of people this year” Mayfield said back in August. “You can’t avoid it. There’s some TVs everywhere. Everybody’s picking us probably to have a losing record so…we’ll see.”

Baker Mayfield Goes From Believing He’ll Shock People To Being Shocked Himself

Fast forward a month and this Tampa Bay team led by Baker Mayfield has certainly shocked a lot of people, but not in the way they wanted to. The people they’ve shocked the most has been their own fans.

While not singularly responsible for the 0-2 start to the Bucs’ season, Mayfield has been a big reason why the team has faltered. He fumbled three times in Week 1 against the Bengals, directly impacting the game with seven points for Cincinnati on a scoop-and-score and taking a minimum of three points and potentially seven off of the board when he later fumbled in the lower red zone.

That could be forgiven, though, as the now 2-0 Bengals are considered to be a very talented team if they could ever figure out their defense – and it looks like they have. Plus, the Bucs had the woeful Browns on the horizon for the home opener. Surely Tampa Bay could right the ship and get their first win of the season, right?

Not only was that wrong, but Mayfield was even worse in Week 2 playing against his former team.

Mayfield threw a bad interception and constantly overthrew deep ball passes down the field. He mustered just 182 yards passing and one touchdown pass in the outing. Even more concerning than that, was Mayfield got happy feet once again. He often departed the pocket at the first sign of disarray from pressure. Instead of moving around through it and sticking in, Mayfield thought he can scramble his way out of every problem. Sometimes it worked, but often it didn’t.

So with all of that, the Bucs sit at 0-2 with Mayfield, fresh off a new $165 million contract, being at the forefront of many miscues. Surprising indeed, even to the star quarterback.

“Pretty shocked,” Baker Mayfield said. “But, that’s where we’re at, so [we have to] fight our way out.”

Bucs Need More From Their Offense

It felt like the Bucs offense took a step back in Week 2. Yes, the running game picked up and Bucky Irving looks like a top-tier caliber running back, leading the way with 89 yards on 17 carries (5.2 avg.). But outside of that, not much else was working. The Bucs just flat out refused to move the ball down the field, opting for screens and swing passes at or behind the line of scrimmage for about half of Mayfield’s pass attempts.

When having an opportunity to take a deep shot, and there were several, Tampa Bay only connected once when Mayfield hit Tez Johnson for a 49-yard gain. The Browns were ready for the screens, forcing Irving and others to have to break several tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Irving, for example, had four catches for 1 yard.

Despite that, Mayfield believes they’re close to breaking out of this funk.

“[I’m] frustrated because it’s close,” Baker Mayfield said. “You can feel it. You can see it. We’re moving the ball at times, and then just shooting ourselves in the foot. So, that makes it more frustrating when you know you’re right there. Our group is more than capable of handling stuff like this, but we [have to] really be self-critical, look at the tape, get stuff fixed and [we] just can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.”

And another element that has been a staple of the Bucs losing nine of their last 11 games have been the penalties and turnovers. Center Graham Barton had two holding penalties that cost Tampa Bay, including a costly one on the team’s final drive. Mayfield’s first quarter interception put Cleveland immediately in field goal range.

For the second week in a row, the Bucs lost the turnover battle along with the game.

Constant errors have done them in. There’s still a long season to go, but this start is not exactly instilling confidence in a team who’s next three games are against the 2-0 Vikings, 1-1 Packers and 1-1 Cowboys. Many corrections need to be made in order to get the offense on track. If they make them, then maybe that’ll be as shocking as what Mayfield originally intended.

“It’s shooting ourselves in the foot, not making the plays when we need them, knowing that these are fixable things,” Mayfield said. “But that also makes it more frustrating. [We] just [have to] get it corrected. Like I said, we [have to] be hard on ourselves, watch the tape, get those things fixed, flush it and move onto the next. [We have] another home game next week against a good opponent.”