TAMPA — Baker Mayfield walked into Seattle already hearing it from the crowd, and he gave it right back. When a Seahawks fan tried to heckle the Bucs as they waited to take the field last Sunday, holding a sign that read, “YOU LADIES ARE STUCK WITH MAYFIELD!” the quarterback returned fire with some choice words, promising the fan would be “real.
TAMPA — Baker Mayfield walked into Seattle already hearing it from the crowd, and he gave it right back.
When a Seahawks fan tried to heckle the Bucs as they waited to take the field last Sunday, holding a sign that read, “YOU LADIES ARE STUCK WITH MAYFIELD!” the quarterback returned fire with some choice words, promising the fan would be “real ... quiet at halftime.”
Classic Mayfield. The same swagger that once got him branded as immature is now just considered the sharp edge he’s used to dice up opponents with four last-minute wins.
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Mayfield went 29-of-33 passing for 379 yards and two touchdowns, including an 11-yard strike to Sterling Shepard with just over a minute remaining to tie the score in a 38-35 win over the Seahawks.
But the pregame exchange of profanities that went viral on social media is proof that Mayfield knows exactly what makes him tick, and he isn’t afraid to show it.
“I try to not get too high or too low, which is something I was not doing earlier in my career,” Mayfield said Wednesday. “Early on in my career, yeah, it was looked upon as cocky and immature. Now it’s moxie. ”He’s a dawg." ... As long as you play well, then you change the narrative. But you’ve just got to be yourself, and I’ve always been like that."
For all his antics, like getting in the face of Texans defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson during a Week 2 win, Mayfield is putting together an MVP-worthy season.
Not only are the Bucs 4-1 heading into Sunday’s game against the 49ers, Mayfield’s completion percentage of 87.9 against the Seahawks was the best in the NFL this season. He has 10 touchdown passes and only one interception.
Mayfield insists that, now 30 and a father who has found a home in Tampa Bay, he has matured. But on the field, he’s the same insufferable competitor who plays to the echo of the whistle that he always has been.
“At the core, I’m definitely the same,” Mayfield said. “Mature in different things that really don’t matter. Now, you put it in the landscape of a competitive football game, in that atmosphere. That will never change.”
No quarterback has played better in the clutch than Mayfield this season. The Bucs were 2-6 (including playoffs) in games decided by a touchdown or less last season. This year, they’re 4-1. In fact, the Bucs have held the lead for just 35.1% of their snaps in the fourth quarter.
What has enabled the excitable Mayfield to slow the game down in the final seconds?
“You have to be able to compartmentalize,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to focus on the main thing, and in the two-minute drive you’ve got to be able to execute the little things. ... The faster you play, the defensive calls get a little more simplified. So you really have to do the little things right. You just take your mind back to the basics and fundamentals of what scheme we have called, whatever play it is, and go from there.
“We rep it so much, and it’s a huge part of our game plan talking about what they do at the end of the half and at the end of the game. That’s pretty standard around the league, and guys know and they see that those meetings are really, really important for us, so we have to be able to execute in those moments and be on the same page.”
Trailing by a touchdown with just over a minute left Sunday, Mayfield fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Shepard, his former Oklahoma teammate.
Shepard said while Mayfield is calm in two-minute situations, the team still feeds off his energy and confidence.
“Every play speaks for itself,” Shepard said. “He plays every play like it’s his last and feeds off the team. He puts us all in the right position, and he’s playing great football.
“You think he’s calm; it’s more controlled, but it’s still there and it will come out. But definitely, he’s not scared to fight back at somebody who’s trying to go at him. We all love that about him. I mean, he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder.”
On Wednesday, Mayfield was asked if he needs to be “pissed off” to play well.
“What are you saying?” Mayfield said sternly before smiling. “No, I don’t. It’s just as a competitor, I enjoy it. That’s something our team as a whole is kind of wound like that, so I enjoy that.”
Of course, by now you know what happened in Seattle. Bucs linebacker Lavonte David intercepted Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, setting up Chase McLaughlin’s game-winning 39-yard field goal as time expired.
As Mayfield ran off the field, the heckling fan yelled, “You still suck!”
Mayfield got the last word: “I told you so!” he shouted.
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Category: General Sports
