Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has played at a superstar level through four weeks of the 2024 campaign. Mayfield ranks eighth in completion percentage (70.5%), sixth in passing yards (984) and second in passing touchdowns (8) so far, and has led Tampa Bay to the NFC South’s best record (3-1).
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He and the Buccaneers have a golden chance to gain some separation in their division on Thursday Night Football, where they will battle the rival Atlanta Falcons (2-2).
Mayfield has matched up with the Falcons three times in his career, but just twice as a Buc. Both of those games came in 2023. His first game against the Atlanta team came in 2018 when he was playing with the Cleveland Browns, and he won the matchup.
He and Tampa Bay lost 16-13 at home in Week 5 but avenged the defeat by winning 29-25 on the road in Week 14. Neither of those contests came against Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who joined the team in free agency this offseason.
In his career, Mayfield has been solid when playing Atlanta. He averages 211.7 passing yards per game and has tossed six touchdown passes to just one interception.
Tampa Bay enters action off a dominant 29-16 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, while Atlanta beat the New Orleans Saints 28-26 on Sunday.
Mayfield’s one loss to the Falcons came when he threw an interception. If he continues to avoid turnovers like he mostly has across the season’s first month, the Buccaneers will have a great chance to win Thursday’s game. While the Bucs are thriving under Mayfield, the Browns are surely missing their old signal-caller.
Mayfield’s old team is struggling without him
Before arriving in Tampa Bay, Mayfield’s football career nearly ended. One year after leading them to their first playoff win in 26 years, the Cleveland Browns traded him to the Carolina Panthers. Cleveland elected to add quarterback Deshaun Watson in a preceding deal, making him expendable.
Mayfield toiled as a Panther and a Ram in 2022, but found his footing with the Buccaneers a season ago. He has flourished since leaving Cleveland. The Browns, meanwhile, have either gotten poor play from Watson when healthy or been forced to start other options because of his injuries.
This reality led another former Cleveland quarterback, Robert Griffin III, to say the Browns would have been better off keeping Mayfield.
Watched the film. The Cleveland Browns wish Baker Mayfield was their QB now.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) October 2, 2024
Mayfield’s story is a reminder that the grass isn’t always greener. He fought through injuries to play for the Browns, and they cast him away like a broken piece of furniture. Now, they’re paying an immense price for a subpar Watson. And their trash has become Tampa Bay’s treasure.
