Tony Dungy thinks Baker Mayfield has given Tampa Bay something real to believe in, and he believes that belief can carry all the way to a Super Bowl.
The former Buccaneers coach said Friday on SportsGrid that Mayfield has won over more than just the fans.
“I do,” Tony Dungy said on SportsGrid Friday. “I think he’s captured the city.
“He’s captured the locker room, the building. The players believe in him.
Every guy that I’ve talked to on that team just speaks so highly of him, and I think he has the drive and I think he has the talent to do it. So I’m excited for them, and I do think they have a chance.”
That kind of confidence comes with a big asterisk, though: in Tampa Bay, everything still runs through Mayfield.
The Bucs saw exactly how that can go last season. When Mayfield was rolling early - 16 touchdowns and two interceptions over the first nine games - Tampa Bay looked like one of the league’s best teams and sat at 6-3. When his play fell off late - 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions over the final seven games - the offense sputtered, the team struggled to beat anybody, and the Buccaneers finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.
Now there’s another layer to the story. Mayfield could be entering his final season as Tampa Bay’s quarterback, depending on what gets worked out, or doesn’t, with his contract. For now, though, the Bucs have him for this year, and the question hanging over the season is whether he can do what Sam Darnold did last year.
The comparison is hard to miss. Both quarterbacks were taken near the top of the 2018 draft, with Mayfield going first overall and Darnold going two picks later.
Both also had rocky starts with the teams that drafted them: Mayfield with the Cleveland Browns, Darnold with the New York Jets. Mayfield lasted four seasons in Cleveland, while Darnold spent even less time in New York, from 2018 to 2020.
Both eventually found new homes, and both have settled in. Mayfield has become one of the best quarterbacks in Buccaneers history, while Darnold has found stability with the Seattle Seahawks, his fifth pro team.
But there’s one difference that still matters in Tampa Bay. Darnold is already a Super Bowl champion. That’s the piece the Buccaneers are hoping Mayfield can add before long.
Mayfield has already taken Tampa Bay to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, but he hasn’t gotten past the divisional round.
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