4 winners (and 2 losers) from Buccaneers final preseason game

Loser: Baker Mayfield haters

It was a tough scene for the Baker Mayfield haters on Saturday night.

Baker wrapped up his preseason on Saturday by going 6-for-6 and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens. He didn’t see a ton of action, but started the game under center and ended a drive by connecting with Chris Godwin in the endzone — a sight that Bucs fans could get used to seeing.

We’ve come a long way from the grainy practice videos that people were dunking on earlier this offseason.

That was the first time seeing Baker with the starters, sans an injured Mike Evans, and the offense looked better than it has in a while. There was a ton of talk about the optics of Baker replacing Tom Brady but there wasn’t much to suggest the team is as worse off as some were trying to argue.

In total, Baker’s preseason saw him throw for 105 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions while posting a 134.5 QBR. He only missed a single throw in the two games he saw action, which seems to directly combat the idea that he’s lost his accuracy.

Sure it’s just the preseason, but Baker has looked exactly like the kind of quarterback the Bucs were hoping he’d be when they signed him in March. He was never supposed to fill the void left by Brady, he was supposed to come to Tampa Bay and help the team be competitive in his own way, which is something he’s already showing.

Baker was already approaching the season with a chip on his shoulder, and Saturday’s performance to cap off an impressive preseason for the Bucs QB1 seems to suggest he’s only getting started proving the skeptics wrong.