What a game from Baker Mayfield!
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the San Francisco 49ers 30-19 on Sunday, in a game where Baker Mayfield solidified himself as an MVP favourite to many.
Last week, I wrote about how the Bucs defense needed to step up and be better. They did exactly that against the 49ers.
Tampa Bay scored its first touchdown after 49ers quarterback Mac Jones was intercepted on his first pass attempt of game.
The Bucs then scored two consecutive touchdowns, as they took a 20-16 into half time.
One negative in an otherwise good first half was that sensation Emeka Egbuka was sidelined and later ruled out altogether.
The rookie wide receiver looked poor in his snaps before the injury, as he dropped multiple passes from Mayfield.
Second half
In the third quarter, there were only two drives.
One of them was a Buccaneers touchdown, as Baker found rookie Tez Johnson on a 45-yard touchdown pass, as the youngster backflipped his way into giving the Bucs a 27-19 lead.
Frustratingly, Chase McLaughlin missed another field goal in this game. He has now missed four field goals this season.
Bearing in mind he has only missed eight in his three season in the Cigar City, this means McLaughlin has missed 50% of his kicks as a Buccaneer since the start of this season.
Luckily, this miss did not affect the trajectory of the game as McLaughlin followed up the miss to score a field goal, and after the defense stepped up again.
The Bucs defense stifled the 49ers, as they kept getting to Mac Jones, sacking him six times and picking him off twice to seal the win.
This is the kind of aggressive defense I want to see from now on, as it made a quarterback who has looked great so far look mediocre at best.
The main man Mayfield
But now we should talk about the main man, Baker Mayfield. This man bleeds football, he is a monster, and he deserves MVP in my opinion.
Against the 49ers, Baker went 17 of 23 for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and was sacked just once.
One play which made headlines in this game was Mayfield’s third down scramble.
At the start of the play ‘Baker’ looked destined to be sacked, Niners rushers all over him.
But, Baker masterfully evaded them and went off on one of his now signature scrambles, fighting and pushing his way through tackles to pick up 15 yards, and a first down.
This mentality exemplifies Mayfield, and he is the type of player who makes you love to say: “That’s my quarterback!”
The Bucs will need this toughness next week, as they take on the gritty Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.
