Following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers legendary star Tom Brady’s retirement, the franchise is yet to find a stable starter. The Bucs’ former first overall pick Baker Mayfield is sitting on a one-year, $4 million deal and is counting his time to hopefully become the hero of a successful transition period in the post-Brady era.
Mayfield got the first chance to fill up TB12’s spot when Tampa Bay declared him the team’s starting quarterback following a promising first preseason game, and he didn’t let them down by continuing the performance with another sharp outing against the Baltimore Ravens in their preseason final.
Baker Mayfield makes a statement in preseason debut for the Bucs
In Saturday’s 26-20 win over Baltimore, Baker moonlighted as a hero along with his first-team offense by dispatching the Ravens’ second-string offense. The veteran solidified his spot on the roster by completing all six of his pass attempts for 43 yards, including a phenomenal 11-yard touchdown over the middle to Chris Godwin.
Baker Mayfield was nearly perfect with the #Bucs this preseason
135.4 QB rating
14 of 15 Passing
105 yards
2 TDs
0 INTs
93.3 %
7 Yards Per AttemptNew Bucs Dave Canales has the offense looking way better than Byron Leftwich did last season, heavy use of play-action which… https://t.co/wahXgXffly pic.twitter.com/663rCqHyIB
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 26, 2023
The signal-caller played in two preseason games for the Bucs and recorded 14-of-15 passes for 106 yards as well as two touchdowns along with a 135.4 passer rating while Godwin recorded four passes for 30 yards along with a touchdown before both of them were pulled from the match.
This season could present a do-or-die situation for Mayfield as his failure to turn himself as the QB1 this time could take away the position from him altogether in the upcoming seasons considering the presence of veterans on the roster like Chris and Mike Evans.
Bucs’ fans optimistic about playoff prospects after Tom Brady’s exit
The Tampa Bay-based team won their last playoff game in 2021 by beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round, albeit they lost the round the following year. After Tom Terrific’s retirement, the dream of winning another playoff pretty much became a daydream for many fans, but some of them are now speculating about another playoff win following the team’s recent preseason match.
A fan wrote, “I’m all in. This is a playoff team.”
I’m all in. This is a playoff team #GoBucs https://t.co/bjN2arHN0T
— Casey Shaw (@shaw224life) August 27, 2023
The NFC South is said to be the weakest division in the league, yet victory in this division should not be looked down upon, and having some promising stars on the roster, many fans are already projecting the Bucs to win the division.
A netizen wrote, “BAKER MAYFIELD AND THE BUCS WILL WIN THE NFC SOUTH. YOU HEARD IT FROM ME FIRST.”
BAKER MAYFIELD AND THE BUCS WILL WIN THE NFC SOUTH. YOU HEARD IT FROM ME FIRST 🫡
— Preme 🌟 (@RealTyMandela) August 26, 2023
Another wrote, “Tampa got some weapons too.”
Tampa got some weapons too 💯🏈
— BiggBreeze (@BigBreezy29) August 26, 2023
Tampa Bay is set to start their Week 1 matchup at Minnesota. Will you tune in for the match? Do you think that Mayfield will be able to keep up the performance in the regular season as well? You can leave your opinions in the comment section.
