Did 49ers' Nick Bosa guarantee a win over Panthers' Baker Mayfield?

Mayfield is now part of a 1-3 Carolina Panthers side that will welcome Bosa and the 2-2 49ers to Carolina's Bank of America Stadium this coming Sunday. Per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, Bosa explained during a Wednesday appearance on San Francisco radio station KNBR he has no interest in trash-talking Mayfield before they meet again on a football field in Week 5 of the 2022 NFL season. However, Bosa may have also intentionally or unintentionally guaranteed a win. 

"I don't think I called him out last time before the game," Bosa remarked. "I just called him out after. So yeah, maybe I'll just call him out after when it goes the way we want it to."

Bosa added that it was "too early" in the morning (local time) for trash talk. 

"I was 21 [my rookie season]. Now I'm 24," Bosa said about his actions in 2019. "So that's definitely a big growth period in anybody's life, especially when you're living this type of life and around a lot of really good leaders and people. It kind of forces you to grow up a little bit. I wouldn't say I'm a huge vocal leader on the team because we have a lot of guys who have been in the league for 10-plus years and have seen a lot more than I have. But I do have a lot of pretty valuable experiences so far, and there are some young guys in the D-line room that I like to share that with."

As for Mayfield, he's experiencing difficulties in his new football home and could soon be benched if he doesn't turn things around. According to ESPN stats, the first overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft began Wednesday sitting dead last among eligible quarterbacks with a 15.3 total QBR on the season.