With Sunday's 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints, Baker Mayfield led the Buccaneers to a second straight NFC South division title. Tampa Bay finished the season 10-7 despite an enormous number of injuries on offense and defense. It wasn't glamorous, but they have found a way to win all season.
They will be the third seed and take on the sixth seed, Washington Commanders, in the wild-card round. They are currently three-point favorites despite valuable pieces of the offense and defense being on the sidelines. The NFL awards are approaching fast, and despite Mayfield having comparable numbers to other candidates, he seemingly gets no consideration from media members for MVP.
Baker Mayfields case for MVP
Despite a revolving supporting cast on offense, Mayfield finished the season throwing for 4500 yards, 41 touchdown passes, and an impressive 71.4% completion rate. That was good for third in yards, second in touchdown passes, and third in completion percentage among all quarterbacks. On top of that, he ranks fourth in passer rating with a 106.8 rating. He also rushed for 378 yards and added three more rushing touchdowns. All while with a rookie running back in Bucky Irving and first-year offensive coordinator Liam Cohen.
Understandably, the two leading candidates, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have fewer interceptions and more team wins. Still, neither has had to endure the injury bug that Mayfield and the Bucs did. Their battle throughout the season and acceptance of adversity are testaments to their toughness and grit. The Bucs also have impressive victories over the Commanders, Lions, Eagles, and Chargers, all of which are playoff teams.
On the defensive side of the ball, they struggled mightily with injuries, and at times, Baker had to bail them out with heroic performances. Nine defensive players have been hurt, most recently star safety Jordan Whitehead, who was placed on the non-football injury list due to an auto accident. The Bucs were second to last in passing yards allowed, ranked 22nd in passing touchdowns allowed, 23rd in turnover percentage, and 16th in points per game, respectively.
Todd Bowles' defense has not lived up to its end of the bargain, which is part of the reason many Bucs fans are calling for him to lose his job.
The NFL honors occur on January 31, and while Mayfield will likely not win the award, he deserves to be much higher on the MVP contenders list.
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