Baker Mayfield forced to leave Week 13 after Jadeveon Clowney stepped on his ankle

A total nightmare scenario played out in Charlotte on Sunday evening for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only did the team look totally outmatched by the lowly Carolina Panthers, but the injury bug that has chewed through the roster finally came for Baker Mayfield.

In the third quarter Baker was sacked and remained on the turf for several minutes being attended to by medical staff after appearing to suffer some sort of a leg injury. He eventually walked off under his own power but was limping and went right into the blue medical tent for a better look.

Replay appeared to show that Jadeveon Clowney stepped on Baker's ankle, causing the injury. While that's hardly a good thing, it was better than what everyone was initially fearing as an injury to Mayfield essentially cooks the Bucs' season.

While Kyle Trask started the next drive under center, Baker came out of the tent and returned to the game. unfortunately he threw an interception on his very first throw back, a turnover that led to points for the Panthers.

Mayfield's injury was just one of many things that went wrong for the Buccaneers on Sunday in Charlotte. Tampa Bay took an early lead on an impressive touchdown catch by Mike Evans but sputtered out after that, with Baker looking as rough as he has all season.

His interception after returning to the game was his second of the afternoon, and his turnovers led to six points for Carolina. It was a complete breakdown beyond Baker, though, as nothing looked right for the Bucs for most of the game.

The defense failed to hold its own, but was forced to constantly defend a short field thanks to horrible punts or offensive turnovers. The offense didn't get anything going outside of that touchdown drive in the first quarter, and dumb penalties kept holding the team back.

Compounding all the frustration was that the Atlanta Falcons lost a third straight game earlier in the afternoon. That opened up a lane for the Bucs to get within a game of first place in the NFC South, but that only made the struggles even harder to stomach.

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