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At 8-7, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoff picture. They would currently host the Dallas Cowboys who have already punched their ticket to the postseason and actually have a better record than them at 10-5. But that's the advantage of leading their division.
Three weeks ago the Buccaneers were tied for first in the NFC South division with the Atlanta Falcons. By the end of that game, where Baker Mayfield drove the Buccaneers down the field to eventually find Cade Otton for an 11-yard touchdown pass with only 31 seconds remaining for a comeback win, Tampa Bay has led the division.
The Buccaneers subsequently beat the Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, teams likewise fighting for playoff contention, by two touchdowns or more and got back to a winning record for the first time since Week 6. Most of that has come off the stellar play of Mayfield, who has completed 76% of his passes and thrown for 664 yards and six touchdowns and no interceptions.
Can Baker Mayfield be good enough to lead the Buccaneers in the playoffs?
Mayfield has no doubt had a revival-type season, quieting a lot of his critics in the process who have doubted him over his career. But most of those criticisms were warranted, which is why many have put into question just how serious this Buccaneers team is in regards to the playoffs with Mayfield as the signal-caller.
As a starter in the regular season, Mayfield is 39-45, but his playoff record is 1-1. His only two games came in 2021 when he helped the Cleveland Browns capture their first playoff win since 1994 over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card. However, the Browns would then lose the next week to the Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual AFC Champions. Mayfield's numbers are solid over those two games, though, completing 62% of his passes for 467 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
The question with Mayfield has always been his maturity and if he can handle the criticism and overcome adversity and make good decisions. This season, he has so far matched his lowest interception total at eight, while he should also match or exceed his single-season touchdown total (27) and passing yards (3,827), but is currently at his best completion percentage (64.3).
Being in Tampa Bay, the pressure hasn't been nearly as great as in years past for the former Oklahoma Sooner. However, 15 games of going just one game over .500 playing in a poor division hardly merits calling labeling Mayfield or the Buccaneers Super Bowl contenders. There's still a lot to prove for both.
Buccaneers haven't really beaten anybody of merit, including the Jaguars
In the Buccaneers' 15 games, they currently have only one win over a team with a winning record, that being the Jaguars in Week 16, which put them only one game over .500. The rest of the teams are all at least one game under .500 or worse. Of course, that mainly comes from being in such a poor division like the NFC South, where the combined record of their division rivals is 16-29.
The win over the Jaguars, while it can't be overlooked, it certainly has to be weighted properly. Their loss to the Buccaneers put them on a four-game losing streak, with losing five out of their last seven. But Jacksonville has lost more than just games; they've lost a substantial part of their roster.
Against the Buccaneers last Sunday, the Jaguars were without two of their top three receivers in Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, while also losing RT Anton Harrison and safety Daniel Thomas in the second half. They were also without LT Cam Robinson who they lost back in Week 13 for the season, Not to mention a beaten-up Trevor Lawrence who has multiple nagging injuries at this point.
The Buccaneers can do nothing about their schedule and the opponents they've faced. But this team has just now found its winning stride, taking advantage of that schedule, which, again, they can't be faulted for. They still have two games remaining against two of their division foes in a 7-8 New Orleans Saints and 2-13 Carolina Panthers. The Saints are likely to be the greater challenge of the two with slim playoff hopes still in play. Getting through those teams is imperative and winning the division before truly labeling the Buccaneers a Super Bowl contender, and even that may be a stretch.
