Bowles discusses Mayfield guiding Buccaneers to playoff win

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles leaves the field after a victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in a NFC wild-card game at Raymond James Stadium. Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Todd Bowles discusses Baker Mayfield guiding Buccaneers to playoff win

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 1/16/24

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles reacted to quarterback Baker Mayfield producing the most important performance, to date, of Mayfield's Tampa Bay tenure in Monday night's 32-9 wild-card playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

"It’s great seeing Baker be Baker," Bowles said during his Tuesday news conference, per the JoeBucsFan website. "It looks like he is having fun like he was in college. He looks relaxed, very intense and learning the game plan and mastering everything."

Similar to former Buccaneers head coach and current club senior advisor Bruce Arians, Bowles was a Mayfield fan before the Cleveland Browns selected the signal-caller with the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft and long before Mayfield signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay last offseason.

While Mayfield was dealing with sore ribs and a hurting ankle on Monday evening, he completed 22-of-36 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles. His numbers could've been even better if not for multiple costly drops committed by several of his teammates.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin mentioned after Monday's win that the Buccaneers currently "are playing free" after Tampa Bay was "really tight" last January with Tom Brady rather than Mayfield in the lineup. Bowles indicated Mayfield's personality rubbed off on others inside the locker room.

"He’s going out there and playing free and carefree," Bowles added about Mayfield. "It’s really helping him and it is really helping us."

Bowles also pointed out that he always wanted Mayfield to "just drive the car" and not put the team on his shoulders as Brady did during TB12's best days with the Buccaneers.

That's all well and good, but Mayfield likely will need to connect on more than 61.1% of his throws when Tampa Bay plays at the Detroit Lions this coming Sunday.

As of early Tuesday evening, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Buccaneers as six-point underdogs against a Detroit Lions team that beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

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