Throughout much of Monday night, Baker Mayfield was battered by the Houston Texans pass rush.
On more than one occasion, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was hobbled.
With 80 yards to go and 2:04 to get there, though, Mayfield mustered up his trademark moxie to lead the Buccaneers to a come-from-behind 20-19 win over the host Texans.
“In these two-minute, close games, we were not on the right side of things for the past couple years,” said Mayfield, who was 25-of-38 passing for 215 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. “It’s good to see that we haven’t even played close to our best ball in all three phases and we’re still finding ways to win on the road. That’s really important to not lose sight of that. We’re finding ways to win, but also we do need to get things fixed. Some of these games, [we] can make it easier on ourselves and try and put teams away earlier, but this is a good team that we played. We expected a hard-fought battle, but, yeah, it’s nice to be on the right side of it.”
The 11-play game-winning drive culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Rachaad White, but Mayfield was 7 of 9 for 63 yards and, on perhaps the drive’s biggest play, converted a fourth-and-10 with a 15-yard scramble, all the more impressive considering he favored his knee twice previously in the game.
“That was a heck of a job of situational football,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said. “Really, Bake on the fourth-and-10, using his legs to get the first down. That kind of catapulted everything from there. Everything we practiced, everything we’ve talked about and everything we’ve done about finishing a ball game, they did a heck of a job finishing.”
A week after captaining the Bucs to a 23-20 comeback victory against the Atlanta Falcons on the strength of a 25-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka, Mayfield joined Doug Williams (1980) as the only Tampa QBs to start a season with consecutive game-winning drives. Since 2024, Mayfield’s passer rating in the fourth quarter is a sterling 114.9, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (121.4).
On Monday, Mayfield looked to have injured his knee in the first half and in the fourth quarter on a scramble. On the latter, Mayfield was tackled and immediately grabbed his leg before seemingly remembering he was fired up. He then bounced up and began jawing with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. He didn’t miss a snap, though, shrugging off any pain and a potent Texans pass rush. Led by Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, Houston hounded Mayfield to the tune of four sacks and a 40% pressure rate.
Mayfield found Egbuka for a 15-yard score with 8:44 left in the first half, but the Bucs offense went ice cold thereafter as the Texans defense flexed its might.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Texans drew within 14-13 on a field goal with 5:22 to play.
On the ensuing drive, the Bucs went three-and-out after an 8-yard sack of Mayfield by Anderson.
Houston rookie Jaylin Noel turned the game with a 53-yard punt return to the Bucs 26-yard line. Two plays later, Nick Chubb burst loose for a 25-yard touchdown.
As the Texans’ fate would have it, they left too much time for Mayfield.
He hit Bucky Irving for 12 yards to begin the drive, but then misfired on two of his next three attempts, putting Tampa Bay in make-or-break territory.
With the middle of the field wide open, Mayfield took off, a sprinting dervish looking to keep his team alive before he was tripped up, flipped forward, landed badly on his back and popped up in a fury.
“It wasn’t like an all-out, zero blitz, but when the back blocks, the ‘backer in man coverage adds on," Mayfield said. "Fortunately was able to get out of that one and get through. Just seeing green grass and fourth down, two-minute drive, trying to do anything it takes to get a win.”
The Bucs were alive and well, Mayfield accentuating the notion by completing his next -- and final -- five passes to set up White’s 2-yard score.
“I have a lot of confidence in our guys,” Mayfield said. “In those moments when you’re moving the ball down the field, defenses can’t get certain blitzes and coverages dialed in, so it’s a lot of basic fundamentals. So, for us, it’s relying on the Day 1 installs and the drills. We do two-minute all the time. Being able to know that you have all those reps in the bank and relying on that and all the looks, taking the checkdowns, the easy throws, and obviously guys making plays, being able to get out of bounds and extend the drive.”
In two weeks, Mayfield and the Buccaneers have prevailed in games decided by a combined four points.
The season’s still young, but so far, Mayfield and Co. have emerged as NFC South frontrunners, conference contenders and one of the NFL’s most entertaining attractions.