Baker Mayfield shouldered the blame for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ loss on Thursday night after his fourth-quarter interception helped interception midway through the fourth quarter helped the Atlanta Falcons complete their comeback.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Mayfield said “this one is going to haunt me” with the Bucs now in danger of falling out of the NFC playoff picture.
“This one is going to haunt me. It falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “It’s not the defense’s fault. It’s my fault.”
Mayfield’s interception came midway through the fourth quarter when the Bucs were ahead 28-20 and had a chance to potentially seal the win with a score. He tried to throw an out route to that Dee Alford snagged before it got to Mike Evans.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles didn’t hold back in unloading on the entire team after the loss in his postgame comments:
“You don’t make excuses. You got to f–king care enough where the s–t hurts. It’s got to f–king mean something to you. It’s more than a job. It’s your f–king livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that s–t.”
It certainly seems like tensions are rising in Tampa right now.
After entering their bye with a 6-2 record, which was tied with the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks for best in the NFC, the Bucs have lost five of six games since Week 10.
Mayfield isn’t the only problem with the team right now, but he isn’t helping the situation. The two-time Pro Bowler has thrown for 807 yards, six touchdowns, five interceptions and completed 54.7 percent of his attempts in his last five games.
Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Mayfield threw for 2,192 yards, 16 touchdowns, two interceptions and completed 64.1 percent of his pass attempts.
They have plenty of other issues as well. Their defense has allowed at least 400 yards three times in the last six games after doing so just once in the first eight weeks.
Opposing teams have scored at least 28 points against the Bucs four times since Week 10. They only allowed 28 or more points twice from Weeks 1-8.
Some of these struggles for Mayfield can be attributed to the shoulder injury he suffered in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams. He sat out the second half of that game but was able to return the next week against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Buccaneers (7-6) need Mayfield to play at the level he did in the first half of the season if they want to get back into the postseason picture.
As things currently stand, the Bucs are behind the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South. Those teams will play twice in the final three weeks of the regular season.
