Baker Mayfield’s grip on the Buccaneers’ starting job is starting to look a lot shakier after another rough night.
Tampa Bay dropped a 27-24 prime-time game to the Chicago Bears, and Mayfield’s mistakes were once again front and center. The Buccaneers got a strong effort from their defense, but it wasn’t enough to cover for an offense that kept stalling out. The loss pushed Tampa Bay to a miserable 3-6 record.
The Bucs are paying Mayfield $55 million per season to steady the offense, but so far he has been the weak link. His inability to push the ball downfield, his poor decision making, and his turnovers have repeatedly put Tampa Bay behind the eight ball.
He has only won two games under center for the Buccaneers, and even those wins came with the offense leaning heavily on the ground game. In those two victories, Tampa Bay combined for just 14 passing attempts, taking the ball almost completely out of his hands.
The numbers on the season paint the same ugly picture. Mayfield has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and is averaging just 6.5 yards per pass attempt. He also has a higher percentage of bad throws than undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, a lower completion percentage, and has taken sacks on more than three percent more of his drop backs than his backup.
That’s why the conversation is turning toward something that would have sounded unthinkable not long ago: Tampa Bay potentially leaning even harder into the run and giving Daniels a real look at quarterback.
Daniels brings a different kind of threat because he can hurt defenses as a runner. That would fit with the league’s top rushing attack and give the offense another layer. He also averages more yards per carry on scrambles than Mayfield by a substantial margin, and the lower sack rate would help the Buccaneers keep drives alive.
Daniels is still raw, and nobody is pretending he’s a finished product. But the idea is gaining traction because the alternative has been so frustrating. Tampa Bay has given Mayfield plenty to work with - an elite offensive line, the league’s best rushing offense, and a top-three defense - and he still hasn’t delivered enough.
Benching a veteran starter for a rookie is a huge call, but Daniels has shown growth in every game he started. Mayfield, meanwhile, seems to be trending the wrong way. If that continues after the bye, Todd Bowles may have to make the move nobody wanted to consider and pull his overpaid, underperforming quarterback.
In Other News...
Bruce Arians Just Made Buccaneers Fans Revisit One Huge Possibility
Bruce Arians has been out of the Buccaneers sideline picture since retiring after the 2021 season, but he has not exactly closed the door on coaching again. After working through health issues that included open-heart surgery, Arians has said he feels ready to get back into the NFL if the right opportunity comes along, which is enough to get Tampa Bay fans thinking about old possibilities they probably assumed were gone for good.
The timing matters because Todd Bowles is reportedly under pressure and a coaching change is expected this offseason, putting the Buccaneers in a spot where every familiar name suddenly feels relevant again. Arians comments do not guarantee anything, but they do reopen a conversation that seemed settled, and for a franchise that has already lived through one dramatic coaching transition, that is the kind of thread worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Tony Dungy Quietly Distances Himself From A Tampa Event
Tony Dungy has stepped away from a Tampa event that had been set to feature him next month, confirming that he will not take part in the Life Surge Christian wealth seminar. The former Buccaneers coach has long been one of the most recognizable football figures in the area, so his name on a local program naturally drew attention before the event became part of a wider conversation around the organization.
Life Surge has been under scrutiny after recent reporting raised questions about customer complaints and pricey courses, along with the role of Tim Tebow in the groups orbit. Dungy is the latest notable figure to distance himself from the organization, joining others such as Tebow, Joe Mazzulla and Craig Groeschel as the event continues to lose some of the names that once gave it added weight. [Read more 🡒]
Suh Just Revealed The Bucs Super Bowl LV Turning Point
Ndamukong Suh recently revisited the biggest night of the Buccaneers championship run, and the conversation offered a fresh look at how Tampa Bays defense found its edge against Kansas City in Super Bowl LV. On a podcast, Suh said he pushed then-defensive coordinator Todd Bowles to rethink the game plan, and the Bucs ended up leaning into a front that could dictate the terms of the matchup.
Suhs role in that shift was more than just motivational. He finished with 1.5 sacks as Tampa Bay kept the Chiefs out of the end zone in a 31-9 win, a result that has only grown more impressive with time. The interesting part now is how much of that title-clinching performance came down to a midgame-level adjustment in philosophy, and how willing Bowles was to trust a veteran defenders read in the sports biggest moment. [Read more 🡒]