Baker Mayfield needs ‘extra wins’ in 12 months 3 with Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield may have completed just 53.1% of his passing attempts in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons — going 2 of 8 in the first quarter — but he still delivered when he needed to.

His feet never seemed to get settled and the ground game offered him little support, too. In fact, he was the leading rusher for both teams by the game’s end. And the deep ball connection was not there — he went 3-for-10 on passes of 15 or more air yards — with the exception of rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka, who spent most of the game not being patrolled by All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III.

Still, Mayfield coming off his best season of is career, stated one category that he wanted to see improved: “More wins” — after accumulating 19 total in his first two seasons with Tampa Bay.

And he accomplished just that in the opener, with the Bucs (1-0) now set to visit the Houston Texans (0-1) for “Monday Night Football” (7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).

Mayfield is coming off a season where he accounted for 41 passing touchdowns — tied for the second most in the NFL — and threw for 4,500 passing yards and completed 71.4% of his passes, which are both third most in the league. He’s going into Year 3 in Tampa and was rewarded with a reworked contract this offseason that gives him $30 million in guaranteed money in 2026 — a year that previously had no guarantees.

“Having been in the offense for a year and coming back in the same system finally, I think he’s really taken the bull by the horn, so to speak,” coach Todd Bowles said in the leadup to the season opener.

Against the Falcons, Mayfield scrambled four times on third down, picking up 39 yards, including a 20-yard run in the third quarter. Then with the game on the line, he turned to Egbuka on a first-and-10 with 1:04 to go and let it rip 25 yards on a post route for a touchdown.

“I think the faster the game speeds up, the calmer he is,” Bowles said of Mayfield’s two-minute drive, sealing the 23-20 victory.

“You saw the dart he threw to [Egbuka] on the game winner — I mean, that is an unreal throw,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said of the play, which had just a 24.9% completion probability, according to NFL Next Gen Stats — the lowest completion probability of the entire game.

Offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was most impressed with the way he sold that play as a quick-hitter to Mike Evans, replicating what they showed earlier in the game to fool the defense.

“[Mayfield’s] footwork on that, even though that was an explosive play — I think that was on the 25- or 30-yard line where we threw it from — he essentially had a quick-game timing on the play where he threw it to Mike, where he’s taking a very slight drop,” Grizzard said. “Does Mike get the ball? Okay, Bates is nailing down, and all it takes is a quick hitch from him to be able to get it up to Emeka.

“So having that recall and working it from the spring of last year through now, [he] now has that in-game reaction where in the critical moment, he’s on it with his footwork and he can get the ball out to an explosive play, and it’s not like he’s taking a seven-step drop.”

But this week, Mayfield, who threw 41 touchdowns last year, faces a different type of challenge. In addition to an offensive line still without All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs (center Graham Barton stepped in for Wirfs, while left guard Ben Bredeson moved to center and newcomer Mike Jordan moved to left guard) newly-extended right tackle Luke Goedeke missed two practices this week with a foot injury and was limited in his return Friday.

On top of that, Mayfield admitted that the Falcons’ defense got him to “move on in [his] progressions too quickly” as he was pressured on 40.5% of his dropbacks.

“I could have taken a lot more check downs and some underneath throws in the beginning to be more efficient instead of going three and out,” Mayfield said.

That could be a problem with Texans pass rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on deck, as those two combined for 23 sacks last season.

“Anytime you play a team like this that that has two bona fide studs on the edge, you game plan for them,” Mayfield said. “You understand that the protection on some things — when you’re trying to push the ball down the field — you’re going to need extra guys in there, whether it’s a chip block or different things like that, double teams. So, you know where they’re at at all times.”

Bowles emphasized getting off to a faster start and better establishing the run. Grizzard said he wanted to try and get some easier completions early on, as they missed some intended for Evans in Atlanta. And Mayfield’s accuracy will be tested, as he had some off-target throws.

“They have a very ball-hawking secondary,” Bowles said. “They keep eyes on the quarterback at all times. From [Jalen Pitre], the nickel, to the two outside guys to the edge rushers that make the ball come out. They’re very in sync. [Texans coach Demeco Ryans] does a great job and makes sure those guys are going 100 miles an hour at all times.”

There’s also Mayfield and the Bucs’ production in prime time, where they’ve gone 0-6 the last two seasons and 1-1 in postseason prime-time games. Mayfield believes honing in on the details will help reverse this trend.

“Obviously we have a great team, but it’s about just doing our job [and] trusting the guy next to you to do theirs — especially in the prime-time games when you’re waiting around all day,” Mayfield said. “Not doing too much — just do your job, your job only, at the very highest level you possibly can and then just execute it.”