On Sunday, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered their second loss of the season with a 20-6 home defeat at the hands of the upstart Detroit Lions. Mayfield and the offense struggled to generate much momentum in the loss, despite the Buccaneers entering the contest coming off of a bye last week.
After the game, Mayfield had an interesting, subtle critique of the game's referees.
After initially stating that he didn't want to pass comment on the officiating due to a potential fine, Mayfield backtracked and said that he “wish[ed] they would call it both ways,” per PewterReport.




Baker Mayfield's ability to overtly criticize the referees while simultaneously claiming that he won't criticize the referees was perhaps the most impressive feat he pulled off on Sunday afternoon. Mayfield completed 19 of 37 pass attempts on the game, throwing no touchdowns and one interception.
Wearing their throwback orange jerseys and white helmets, the Buccaneers were unable to get off the ground offensively. In fairness, the Lions have boasted one of the better defenses in the NFL thus far in the 2023 season, so expecting Mayfield and Tampa Bay to be on cruise control might have been unreasonable. Still, the Buccaneers offense looked much better against an equally impressive New Orleans Saints defense in Week Five.
Despite the loss, the Buccaneers held onto their first place position in the NFC South. Up next, Tampa Bay will look to get back in the win column against the Atlanta Falcons on October 22. That game is slated to kick off at 1:00 PM ET.