The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now paying Baker Mayfield $55 million per season to lead this franchise and be consistent at the helm of the offense, but in reality, he has been THE weak link costing the team. Once again, Mayfield's inability to move the ball down the field, his poor decision making, and his turnovers were the story, as he wasted an incredible performance from the defense en route to losing 27-24 to the Chicago Bears in prime time to sink the Bucs to a miserable 3-6 record.
Mayfield has only won two games under center for the Bucs, and saying he led the team to victory would have "led" doing a lot of heavy lifting. The Buccaneers combined for only 14 passing attempts in his two wins this season, relying almost entirely on the running game and taking the ball out of Mayfield's hands.=.
On the season, Mayfield has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and is averaging a measly 6.5 yards per pass attempt, which is horrendous for a supposed gun slinger. He has a higher percentage of bad throws than undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, a lower completion percentage, and has taken a sack on more than three percent more of his drop backs than his backup.
Baker Mayfield is hurting the Buccaneers
If Baker Mayfield keeps making reckless decisions and keeping the offense out of sync, the Buccaneers might actually be better as a run heavy team with Daniels at the helm.
He himself is dangerous as a runner, which would add another dimension to the league's top rushing attack. Daniels averages more yards per carry on scrambles by a substantial margin over Baker, and taking less sacks helps make it so that the Bucs can keep moving the ball forward.
While Jalon Daniels is very raw and obviously no sure thing, it's getting to the point where it just can't get much worse. Tampa Bay has surrounded Mayfield with an embarassment of riches: an elite offensive line, the league's best rushing offense, and a top-three defense on the other side of the ball. They're not asking Mayfield for much here, but he's simply not holding up his end of the bargain.
While benching the leader of the team for a rookie might sound preposterous, Daniels showed growth in every game he started. If anything, Mayfield, despite being a veteran, is only getting worse and worse, and with one more bad performance after the bye, Todd Bowles may have to do the unthinkable and pull his overpaid, underperforming signal caller.
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