Getty Baker Mayfield hasn't been rolling out as he did early in the season.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield stopped rolling out and taking off on bootlegs as he did early on in the season, and it begged the question why amid the team’s three-game skid.
Mayfield led the team to a 3-1 start by using his legs and his arms to move the ball. The Bucs offense scored 20 or more points in three of those four games, but the offense has sputtered since with 18 points or less during the losing streak.
“Every game is different — they’re not going to be there every game for us. We go by what the team is going to give us,” Bowles told reporters on Friday, October 27, the morning after a 24-18 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
#Buccaneers Baker Mayfield touchdown pass to Mike Evans vs #Bills
“Going into the ballgame, they were rushing four and it was good for him to sit back in the pocket,” Bowles added. “When they didn’t really send more than we could block, he had time to throw the football — we were okay there.”
Mayfield went 25-42 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the second week in a row when the Bucs had him throw 42 times.
“We’ve just got to get open down the field and we’ve got to sustain longer. The plays getting out of the backfield, you could see going up the field and going into the game [that] they were pretty fast on the outside so we dropped him back a little more,” Bowles concluded.
Baker Mayfield Is ‘Doing His Part’
Mayfield had limited success when he did run with 19 yards on three carries. A former No. 1 pick, Mayfield couldn’t pull out the win against former 2018 NFL Draft class member quarterback Josh Allen of the Bills, but Bowles nonetheless had Mayfield’s back.
“He’s doing his part,” Bowles said of Mayfield. “He’s doing everything he can to try and make plays. Sometimes it’s him, sometimes it’s not. It’s an offense as a whole. Like you said, it’s a whole entire offensive thing — it’s not just laid on Baker. It’s not laid on Baker. Everybody has got to execute and everybody has got to do their job.”
Mayfield’s job next will be to help the Bucs get out of a near midseason slump when the team visits the Houston Texans (3-3) in Week 9. Houston has been solid in the early going behind rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who has 1,660 yards passing and nine touchdowns versus one interception.
Todd Bowles Addresses No Call on Final Play
Mayfield had a chance to win the game at the end with a deep shot to the end zone, which wide receiver Chris Godwin couldn’t grab amid a sea of players jostling for position. Despite the physicality of the play, Bowles didn’t see a glaring missed call by the officials.
“They’re all like that at the end of the ballgame,” Bowles said. “When the ball is in the air, you’re not really looking for flags. The defense is trying to box out, the offense is trying to get position. Very rarely are you going to see a flag on that play. You either make the catch and get it up in the air and get a tipped ball or you don’t.”