Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield certainly didn't look like a franchise quarterback on a franchise record contract in Sunday's Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Mayfield was the biggest reason why the Bucs lost their 2026 NFL regular season opener, and he was outplayed by Joe Burrow, who looked like a better quarterback and a better leader in the Bucs 33-27 loss to their AFC North counterparts.
Mayfield has always been more than a bit of a loose cannon, and turning the ball over is not a new issue for the former No. 1 overall pick. Baker has led the league in turnovers before as the Bucs quarterback, and whlie he did not throw an interception against the Bengals, he pretty much fumbled the game away, losing possession three times in back breaking fashion to essentially gift the game to the Bengals.
The Buccaneers, as with one of his predecessors Jameis Winston, have no choice but to take the good with the bad with Mayfield, and they are not going to fundamentally change the way Baker plays. He is almost a poor man's Brett Favre as a gunslinger, with the same mentality that he thinks he can make any play but with, in all honesty, a fraction of the raw arm talent.
Baker Mayfield can single-handedly win (and lose) games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield can make amazing plays and win the Tampa Bay Buccaneers games they had no business winning, but he will also throw games away and lose them matches with bad errors, both in terms of fumbles and interceptions depending on if he is throwing the ball or running the rock.
The Buccaneers are paying Mayfield a lot of money, and they know all the negatives about him at this point. Nothing he is going to do will catch them by surprise, including the rash of fumbles in this loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
And the Buccaneers are just going to have to accept the turnovers and hope that Mayfield manufactures enough big plays and keeps the chains moving enough to make the negatives worth it.
In this Week 1 loss to the Bengals, Baker definitely didn't do enough to overcome the negative plays, and the Bucs are going to have to hope that this changes course next weeekend against another AFC North opponent in Baker's former team, the Cleveland Browns, as well as subsequent Bucs games this season.
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