The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) and quarterback Baker Mayfield have plenty in common, which is a key factor in why they're now operating as a perfect match. Both have experienced plenty of peaks and valleys lately, and they're both primed to make NFL history in their Week 18 game against the New Orleans Saints (5-11) on Sunday afternoon.
The Buccaneers reached the postseason seven times in 11 seasons from 1997 to 2007, a run that included an NFC Championship game appearance in 1999 and a Super Bowl XXXVII title in the 2002 season. Mayfield dominated college football at the University of Oklahoma: he was a two-time Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year (2015, 2017) and the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner.
Then, each had a dry spell. Tampa Bay went 12 seasons (2008-2019) without a playoff appearance, and Mayfield played for three teams -- the Cleveland Browns (2021), the Carolina Panthers (2022) and the Los Angeles Rams (2022) -- in two seasons while ping-ponging around the league, looking for a long-term fit. The Buccaneers began their comeback with the G.O.A.T, Tom Brady, winning Super Bowl LV in 2020 and then having two more playoff appearances in 2021 and 2022. In 2023 and 2024, Mayfield has helped keep the good times rolling in Tampa Bay while playing the best football of his career, including what's shaping up to be his first two Pro Bowl seasons.
With a win over the Saints on the Sunday, Mayfield can help the Buccaneers achieve some of the best success in franchise history while creating a new club in NFL history. A victory would clinch the NFC South division title for Tampa Bay as well as the organization's fifth consecutive playoff trip. That would be their longest streak in Buccaneers history, and it would mark them as the only NFC team to reach the postseason in each of the past five seasons. Tampa Bay would also become the first team in NFL history to start 4-6 and reach the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, per CBS Sports Research. Mayfield, as the quarterback, is obviously at the center of those in-season turnarounds.
Mayfield enters Week 18 of the 2024 season with 67 passing touchdowns since joining the Buccaneers in 2023, which makes him the league's passing touchdowns leader since the start of last season. His 39 passing touchdowns this season are the third-most in team history, and with five passing touchdowns on Sunday against New Orleans, Mayfield can set a new franchise, single-season record with 44. Brady's 43 passing touchdowns in the 2021 season are the current mark. While five is a lot to ask for, Mayfield is fresh off of throwing a career-high five passing touchdowns in a 48-14 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 17.
He also enters Week 18 with a 71.7% completion percentage this season, the second-best in the league. With only one more touchdown pass and the maintenance of a completion percentage of at least 70% for the season, Mayfield can become only the third player in NFL history with a season that included at least 40 touchdowns and a 70% completion percentage, joining future Hall of Famers Drew Brees, who did so in 2011, and Aaron Rodgers, who did so in 2020. That's all-time, rare air. It's also worth noting Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow can join this exclusive club as well in Week 18 if he can slightly improve upon his 69.8% completion percentage against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Detroit Lions (14-2), Minnesota Vikings (14-2) and the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) are the top tier of the NFC entering the postseason, but if Mayfield maintains his current level of play, perhaps the Buccaneers can go from an under-the-radar story in 2024 to making plenty of noise in January.
