When Tom Brady and seasoned commentator Kevin Burkhardt call a play one of the best they’ve seen from a quarterback, you know it was something special. Baker Mayfield delivered just that in the Buccaneers’ home loss to the 49ers, outsmarting the formidable Nick Bosa on a 4th-down conversion.
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The Oklahoma alum dragged the former DPOY to the sideline with a powerful stiff-arm, all while pulling off a mesmerizing play. Facing 4th and 7 from their own 30-yard line and trailing by three with under two minutes left in the 4th quarter, Tampa decided to go for it.
At the snap, the 49ers quickly pressured Baker Mayfield out of the pocket. Bosa followed him closely as the former Heisman winner moved right. The Ohio State alum hurried the Bucs QB, but Mayfield managed to stiff-arm him, dragging the linebacker to the sideline before firing a perfect pass downfield to Rashad White for a first-down conversion.
This is the most insane 4th down conversion I’ve seen in my life.
Baker Mayfield is HIM. pic.twitter.com/BaSyUYWmTO
— JC Cornell (@CornellNFL) November 10, 2024
The Bucs’ possession, though, ended merely with a game-tying field goal even though they had a perfect opportunity to close out the game with a TD. With 41 seconds still left on the clock, this gave the 49ers and Brock Purdy to put together a drive of their own.
They were able to drive down the field, allowing Jake Moody to redeem himself by kicking a 44-yarder. Tampa despite Baker’s heroics, lost for the second successive week. Earlier this week, they lost to the Chiefs in OT, despite the QB tying that game with a TD in the final seconds.
They are 4-6 currently and the pattern from last season seems to be repeating, leaving everyone including Mayfield frustrated.
Mayfield reacts to another frustrating loss
The Bucs shot themselves in the foot when they failed to get a TD on their final drive of the game. They tried to run the clock down, as two plays from their last drive ended with no gain, giving up the chance to find the end zone and settling for a field goal.
That didn’t turn out to be a wise decision, giving them another frustrating loss. Mayfield expressed his disappointment, pointing out the errors of the team:
“Just a matter of wins and losses and we’re still not winning. Still sucks. Got to play to win down there at the end of on offense. You know trying to bleed the clock so they don’t have too much time but also go win the game and unfortunately has the negative play down there. Yeah just got to make a better throw or win our one-on-one matchups and somehow find a way to win.”
Baker like the rest of the offense had a frustrating game, finishing with merely 116 yards and a TD, completing only 62.1 % of his passes. This was his worst performance of the season.
The Bucs have an easier upcoming schedule comparatively and there are still seven games left. They can make the playoffs like the last season by winning games in the final stretch, just by sorting things out at the management level.
