The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been missing a lot of things over the last month — a good defense, key players due to injuries and wins come to mind right away.
One thing that’s never gone away? The stellar play — and swag — of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who led the Buccaneers to a 30-7 road win over the New York Giants in Week 12 that snapped a 4-game losing streak for Tampa Bay.
Mayfield also came up with a vicious and hilarious troll of opposing quarterback Tommy DeVito after running for a 10-yard touchdown to put the Buccaneers up 23-0 right before halftime.
After scoring, Mayfield did an exaggerated version of DeVito’s signature celebration.
“Oh my. Baker Mayfield just scored a TD and made sure all #Giants fans saw him doing the Tommy DeVito celebration. Giants getting embarrassed at home,” The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov wrote on his official X account.
While Mayfield’s celebration was funny, it was also part of a dominant performance by the Pro Bowl quarterback, who went 24-of-30 passing for 294 yards and no interceptions to go with 29 rushing yards and 1 touchdown — 1 of 4 rushing touchdowns by 4 different players for the Buccaneers.
Giants Turned to DeVito After Tumultuous Week
DeVito was making the fourth start of his career and his first start of the season after a tumultuous week for the Giants, who are headed toward a massive offseason rebuild after dropping to 2-9 with the loss.
DeVito, who has been the third string quarterback all season, was named the starter after the Giants decided to release former first round pick Daniel Jones on November 22. That came just 18 months after the Giants signed Jones to a 4-year, $160 million contract extension in March 2023. There was some minor controversy that came with Giants head coach Brian Daboll naming DeVito as the starter after he leapfrogged backup quarterback Drew Lock on the depth chart.
DeVito, who grew up in nearby Cedar Park, New Jersey, struggled in the loss to the Buccaneers, going 21-of-32 passing for 189 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions while rushing for 32 yards on 7 carries.
Jones could actually be a player the Buccaneers might want to consider signing as a free agent after he presumably clears waivers on Monday — it would be a deft insurance policy for the rest of the season to have a serviceable backup quarterback in case something were to happen to Mayfield.
Buccaneers Have Path to Playoffs Laid Out
The Buccaneers’ 4-game losing streak included 3 by one score, including the last 2 ending on the last play of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Buccaneers do have some experience having their backs against the wall in recent seasons. They were 4-7 in 2023 and rallied to finish 9-8 and make the playoffs. They were 6-8 in 2022 and rallied to finish 8-9 and make the playoffs.
Coming up, the Buccaneers have the NFL’s easiest schedule coming up if they want to make another improbable playoff run; in their remaining 6 games they only play 1 team with a winning record when they face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15, and have 2 games coming up against the lowly Carolina Panthers.
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Buccaneers’ $100 Million QB Viciously Trolls NFC East QB After TD Run