Bucs QB Baker Mayfield.
Joe is pretty confident the Bucs know exactly why. So what are they going to do about it?
There are all sorts of things to point to that went wrong for the Bucs, specifically after the bye, that sunk the pirate ship. As always in football, none are more important than the quarterback.
There was the good Baker Mayfield and the bad Baker Mayfield.
Good Baker dominated the first part of the season, before the bye. In close games, Good Baker put the Bucs on his back, running for key first downs that also loosened up an opponent’s defense and Good Baker then took advantage.
Good Baker looked like he was a league MVP for good reason. He was making clutch play after clutch play, both with his legs and arm, leading the Bucs to a 6-2 record.
Then after the bye, Bad Baker showed up throwing nearly as many picks as he did touchdowns. Too many of those picks came in the fourth quarter which doomed the Bucs, as pointed out by Jenna Laine of ESPN.
Before their Week 9 bye, he had thrown 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He threw 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions after the week off.
Mayfield battled injuries to both shoulders and had issues in his right bicep and knee — on top of a hand issue in training camp. [Todd] Bowles said he did not believe injuries played a role in Mayfield’s regression, and that he doesn’t think any of Mayfield’s injuries will result in offseason surgery.
Joe doesn’t buy it. Mayfield had a myriad of injuries. If Mayfield’s injuries were not a factor in the team circling the drain, then that means recently fired Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was incapable of making adjustments.
That may have played a part. But Joe is of the belief injuries to Mayfield turned him from Good Baker to Bad Baker.
And if Mayfield was that hurt, Joe would still like to know why then was he still on the field and not shelved to get him healthy. A banged-up Mayfield trying to fight through injuries did no one any good, specifically Mayfield himself.