Getty LT Tristan Wirfs had the back of Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers quarterback
It has become a common theme when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the division rival Saints. There always seems to be a New Orleans defender coming in with a late cheap shot against Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. In the first meeting between the two teams, it was defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd. In Sunday’s loss, it was star defensive back Tyrann Mathieu who gave Mayfield a shot to the ribs. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs was asked after the game if he’d had about enough of the cheap shots from New Orleans.
Indeed, he has had enough.
“Yeah I am,” Wirfs told reporters at his locker. “93 (Shepherd) did it first game. Tryann Mathieu did it this game. And he’s chirping at the refs saying he didn’t. But that’s part of football. Bake’s a tough guy, a tough bas***d. I can’t say anything else about it.”
Mayfield, too, mostly left it alone. But in his postgame press conference, he said, “Ribs don’t feel too great right now,” adding that X-rays came back negative. About the play, Mayfield said, “It was one of those late-scramble plays, last-second throwing the ball to Chris (Godwin), obviously. They’re going to take hits. They’re a physical team.”
Baker Mayfield’s Hot Streak Ends
Alas, the Buccaneers were not all that physical in Sunday’s 23-13 loss, a strange turn of events for a team on a four-game winning streak and with an opportunity to win the NFC South division on their home field. Mayfield entered the game as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL over the last four outings, but it was not until the final quarter that he finally looked like that version of Baker Mayfield.
He threw for 309 yards, but he also threw two interceptions, and the Buccaneers were scoreless in the first three quarters. Tampa also had two fumbles, one by running back Rachaad White and one for receiver Trey Palmer.
Coach Todd Bowles was less than pleased after the game.
“Coaches gotta come up with a better game plan on both sides of the ball and players gotta play it better,” Bowles said in his postgame press conference. “We were off-kilter from the start, they did a good job manufacturing a drive down the field, keeping us off-balance. They did a good job getting turnovers. They did what they were supposed to and came in here to do, and we didn’t.”
Sure, give credit to the Saints. But Bowles said the Bucs would have had a hard team beating anyone the way they played on Sunday.
“It doesn’t matter who we played today, a good team, a bad team, a college team, a high school team, we wouldn’t have won the game,” Bowles said.
Buccaneers’ Tristan Wirfs: ‘That’s Unacceptable’
All is not lost for Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers, though. They still can punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win in Carolina in Week 18. The Panthers are 2-14, but the Buccaneers would be wise not to take them too lightly. They’ve been very competitive at home, and nearly beat Green Bay in Week 15, losing 33-30. They beat the Falcons the previous week. The Bucs know they’d better be ready.
“We have to,” Bowles said. “It will sink in. Obviously, we know we have to win next week, we weren’t trying to bring it to next week. Obviously, we wanted to win the one today. We didn’t win the one today. We gotta come back on Tuesday, we’ve got to be ready and focused, we’ve got to be ready to execute.”
Tristan Wirfs was not happy with the effort on Sunday, either, but is ready to move on.
“We came out looking like that, that’s unacceptable,” he said. “And next week is for the marbles. You know, there’s no next week for a title. So we have to put this behind us, we have to move forward, look forward to next week and do the best we can to come home with a hat and T-shirt. … You’ve gotta put your hard hat on and bring your lunch pail because there’s no tomorrow after that.”