Baker Mayfield can't read minds, but he can decipher tells of opposing defenses and use the information to torch the other side. Such was the case in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17 upset win over the Minnesota Vikings on the road last Sunday, according to Bucs running back Rachaad White, who said during a recent appearance on the Bucs Total Access that Mayfield took mental notes of the Vikings' defensive signals and basically built a winning formula off of those reads (h/t JoeBucsFan.com).
“I just remember Bake came in the locker room, literally at halftime, he said, ‘I got it. We got all these signals,'” White said of Mayfield. “We’re in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-2. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they’re dropping back to this.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ … I was just listening to him and we were listening to him and we just kind of understood.”
Mayfield finished the Vikings game with 173 passing yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions on 21-of-34 completions. While those were not exactly incredible numbers, Mayfield undeniably did not just enough to expose Minneasota's defense.
Mayfield's signal-reading abilities will be put to the test anew this coming Sunday when the Buccaneers go up against the Chicago Bears, whose faulty defense allowed nearly 40 points and almost 330 total yards from scrimmage to Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
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