Baker Mayfield's Mad Dashes Earn Buccaneers Revenge, Legitimacy | 4 Downs

Mayfield's Grit Steers Buccaneers to Victory, as Saints Shock Cowboys, Chiefs Survive Bengals, and More!

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers viewed Sunday as a barometer, a measuring-stick game for how far this team has come since falling in the NFC Divisional Round at Ford Field in January. After walking off losers in the postseason, Tampa weathered several storms Sunday afternoon in Detroit to emerge with a 20-16 win over the Lions, along with well-earned legitimacy as an NFC contender.

Brad Johnson knows a thing or two about winning big in Tampa Bay, having led the Buccaneers to a win over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, and now 20 years later is all-in on what Mayfield is doing.

“After winning the division last year and now 2-0 to start this season,” Johnson told me Sunday evening. “Baker has all of Buccaneers Nation believing in him and this team.”

Sunday afternoon, it didn’t matter that Aidan Hutchinson slammed the door on the five-yard line of the Buccaneers’ opening possession by sacking Baker Mayfield, or that the emerging superstar logged a Lions franchise record five sacks on Tampa’s quarterback, three of which ended drives.

Nor did the Lions offense’s relentless cannon-fire of 463 total yards wind up mattering on the scoreboard.

In the end, in Sunday’s biggest moments, Baker Mayfield rose to meet the moment.

Mayfield finished 12-of-19 for 185 yards with one touchdown, one interception and led the Buccaneers with 34 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Most importantly, though, were a pair of gutty runs from Mayfield.

Mayfield followed up an 11-yard scramble to convert a 3rd down and 4 followed by an 11-yard sprint straight up the middle, straight through the heart of the Lions’ defense, and straight into the end zone for the eventual game-winning touchdown on the very next snap.

“Right now, Baker’s playing with true confidence, very similar to when he was at Oklahoma.” Johnson says. “He’s making decisive decisions and throwing the ball with authority.

“Baker had the big-time scramble for a touchdown against the Lions that was the difference in winning the game, and you could just see the true jubilation in the celebration what it meant to him.

Mayfield took the Buccaneers’ offense, put it on his back, and took over this game.

“You can just tell right now that Baker has the team and organization that believes in him,” Johnson explained. “And he doesn’t have to second-guess the way he’s playing.”

The past 19 games have been the most consistently prolific of Mayfield’s career, and represent a second act that many quarterbacks would be envious of.

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Since landing in Tampa, Mayfield has completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 4,518 yards with 33 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions while leading the Buccaneers to victory in 11 of his 19 starts.

“The best thing that happened to Mayfield,” a veteran AFC Scout told me. “Was getting away from the dumpster fire that Cleveland seems to be for quarterbacks. But, in addition to that, he’s significantly matured in his game.”

Beyond Mayfield’s clutch performance, and from a bigger-picture perspective for where this season may eventually go for Tampa, it’s also noteworthy that the Buccaneers lost All-Pro defensive tackle Vita Vea early in this game, and still withstood the Lions’ steamrolling ground attack late to thwart Detroit’s bid for a second consecutive comeback victory.

There was certainly significantly less at stake Sunday than the last time these two teams met. However, some NFL executives suggested to me before the season that this could wind up being an NFC Championship Game preview.

Based on their performance Sunday, the Buccaneers look like they have the talent at the most important positions and the temperament to remain in that conversation.

Here are the biggest takeaways, and awards, from a revelatory Week 2 of the season:

First Down: Saints Go Marching Into Dallas to Make a Statement

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If Week 1 is about overreactions, then Week 2 may be the time for affirmations of those bold proclamations.

In that vein, it’s time to wonder if the New Orleans Saints are the new “Greatest Show on Turf.”

I’m only half kidding.

Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara and the New Orleans Saints went Marching into Arlington and lambasted the Cowboys 44-19, a week after Dallas held Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns to 230 yards of total offense, including just 93 on the ground in a blowout victory.

Turnabout, it seems, is indeed fair play.

Peep these numbers from Sunday’s offensive outburst from New Orleans, against that same Dallas defense that stifled Watson and the Browns seven days ago:

Derek Carr: 11-of-16 passing for 243 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Rashid Shaheed: 4 catches on 4 targets for 96 yards, 1 TD

Chris Olave: 4 catches for 81 yards

Alvin Kamara: 20 carries for 115 yards, 3 rushing TDs, 2 catches for 65 yards, 1 TD

It was Kamara who spearheaded the onslaught. Kamara’s 115 rushing yards were his most since Week 14 of the 2021 season, and Sunday was the seventh time in his career he’s reached the end zone at least three times.