Baker Mayfield leads Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 4th straight win

TAMPA, Fla. — Fresh off a 30-12 Christmas Eve victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars — their fourth straight — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said of his now rapidly ascending offense that’s averaged 31 points a game the past three weeks: «It’s a hell of a lot better than the last five years. I can say that.»

Mayfield threw for 283 passing yards and three touchdowns to lift the Buccaneers to an 8-7 record and one victory away from an NFC South title, providing an exhilarating twist to a career that included four different teams in the last calendar year and a one-year, prove-it signing last offseason. The Buccaneers, seeking to fill the near-impossible void left by Tom Brady, and Mayfield, eager to resurrect his once-promising career, both appear to be big winners in this.

«I would love to be here. It’s a great city, great group of guys, great organization, but winning ball games takes care of that, so we’ll have that discussion after the year,» said Mayfield, whom the Buccaneers have not approached about an extension, sources told ESPN. The expectation is that those talks will not happen until after the season.

«He’s been outstanding,» said coach Todd Bowles, who has also refrained from publicly discussing Mayfield’s future. «He’s been outstanding in December. That’s what you want from your quarterback in December. Everybody knows each other’s plays right about now. But when you’re trying to make a push and your quarterback is playing great, it gives you a chance.»

Mayfield has thrown 25 touchdowns for the season — one off his personal best of 26 — while only throwing eight interceptions. His chemistry with Mike Evans, who hauled in two touchdowns against the Jaguars, has been apparent all season, but now it’s transcended the whole offense, with seven different receiving targets catching passes Sunday. Mayfield’s gotten much more comfortable airing it out too, averaging 12.3 yards per completion to Evans and 13.2 to wide receiver Chris Godwin, who followed up last week’s 158-yard performance with 79 receiving yards.

On top of that, the defense, playing at full-strength, had one of its best games of the season: Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. became just the second player this season to record a sack, interception and a fumble recovery in a single game, while rookie outside linebacker YaYa Diaby, a third-round draft pick out of Louisville, finished with 1.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Inside linebacker Devin White, whose status on the team was called into question after he did not play against the Green Bay Packers last week despite medical clearance, had a first-quarter interception and a half sack, two pass breakups and two quarterback hits, with fellow inside linebacker Lavonte David also recording a sack and a tackle for a loss.

«We’re piecing it together, everybody’s playing for each other, everybody’s locked in, and we’re trying to get in,» Bowles said. «We’re clawing, we’re scrapping, we’re doing everything we can, those guys have great attitudes, the leaders have been great for us getting us through tough times [and] coming out the other side and we know it’s not over.»

It was starting to look that way three weeks ago, when the Buccaneers had a 23% chance to reach the playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics. Now they have an 84% chance to not only get in but to win the NFC South, which sets up a potential division-clincher next Sunday when they host the New Orleans Saints. Because of the Saints’ 30-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, the Buccaneers only need to win one of their remaining games to lock up the division. They close out the season on the road at the Carolina Panthers, where Mayfield spent the first seven games last season.

«That’s our mindset — going to close it out at home,» said Mayfield, who was released by the Panthers on Dec. 5 last year before signing with the Rams the following day. «And then go in with the same mentality to Carolina. We’re playing for better seeding. Obviously, if you win the division, you get the fourth seed. But who knows what can happen. So that one game at a time mentality, and we have New Orleans at home next week.»

But Mayfield did confess that he broke his own rule on that.

«I did ask [Santa Claus] for a win, yeah,» Mayfield said. «He brought that for me, so that’s great. But I’ve got another one coming. There was two parts to the win.»

An equally satisfied Bowles added that it’s shaping up to be a «great Christmas» and «I won’t be eating cookies tonight.»