One of the biggest reasons the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been able to so successfully navigate out of the Tom Brady era has been the elite quarterback play of Baker Mayfield.
He's earned a Pro Bowl selection and won Offensive Player of the Game, entered the MVP conversation, and has led the Bucs to two consecutive NFC South titles. For as dark as the days of yesteryear were for Tampa Bay, things are going decidedly well.
That doesn't mean Baker is immune to criticism.
Bleacher Report writer Brad Gagnon called out Baker in a piece looking at every NFL team's biggest problem heading into their Week 2 matchup. It's a bit jarring -- and seemingly foolish -- to deem Baker the team's biggest problem, but in a vacuum there are some things worth pointing out.
"The lows continue to be glaring for a quarterback who threw a tied-for-NFL-high 16 interceptions last season and committed a tied-for-NFL-high four turnover-worthy plays in Tampa Bay's Week 1 victory over Atlanta," Gagnon wrote. "Mayfield also missed some easy intermediate passes, but he did manage to steal a victory with three touchdown passes."
Baker Mayfield is NOT the Buccaneers 'biggest problem'
While it's true that Baker needs to work on being more consistent, to label him the Buccaneers' biggest problem is both misguided and unfair. If there's one thing fans will point to as holding the team back, it's the underwhelming defensive performance, rather than anything Baker is doing.
Baker makes mistakes, but all quarterbacks do. Some of the poor play on defense over the last few seasons has magnified some of the offensive errors and compounded things into a nice little frustrating ball of anxiety for fans who know the team can be better than it is.
Even with 16 interceptions over the last two seasons, Baker came into Week 2 leading all quarterbacks in touchdowns -- more than Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, who have collected MVP trophies over the course of that time.
For how high-octane and potent the offense has been since Baker arrived, there's no reason the Bucs should be limping to 9-win seasons or needing to stave off significant losing streaks in the middle of the year.
It's not out-of-line to call out Baker for needing to be more consistent, but the reality of the situation is he needs to do that in order to make up for what we all know will be a white-knuckled ride on defense. We saw that the last time Tampa Bay was in Houston, where Baker and the offense put up 37-points but were let down by the defense allowing a record-setting five touchdowns to C.J. Stround and the Texans.
That's not at all on Baker, and it's a microcism for the uphill battle he's been fighting since arriving in Tampa Bay. All of this also suggests the vibes are off -- which they aren't. The Bucs are 1-0 for the third straight year under Baker and have a chance to once again start out hot as they defend an NFC South crown.
What can't happen is another midseason implosion, and the last two seasons it's happened it hasn't been because Baker Mayfield is the biggest problem on the team.
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