Baker Mayfield On Blunt Bucs: ‘We’re So Close’

Moving on from Tom Brady is hard – just ask the Patriots – and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield leads a sluggish offense.

Sunday’s 16-13 defeat to Atlanta was the third game in four Tampa Bay lost while scoring 13 or fewer points. The team ranks 23rd in the NFL in total offense.

The Bucs’ passing game is 15th in the league and their rushing attack is 29th in the league. Tampa Bay ranks 28th in the league with a red zone scoring percentage of 37.5.

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Baker Mayfield has thrown an interception in four straight games, but insists the offense is close to clicking.

“I think with any of those experiences you learn how to weather some of these storms, and you learn how to grow through them and handle them when certain situations come,” said Baker Mayfield. 

“For right now – like we keep mentioning – just get our stuff fixed, be more detailed, fundamentally sound and good things will happen. When you re-watch the losses, we’ve played good teams, but we haven’t played our best. So, for us, it’s about us playing our best ball and focusing on what we can control and that’s being fundamentally sound and doing our jobs.

“We’re just so close,” he added. “I’m getting tired of saying that but it’s the truth when you go back and watch [the film]. It’s one play here or there that’s going to make the difference in us keeping drives sustained, or the big plays over the top to get those explosive plays. We’re close.”

Read: Jordan Addison ‘Everything I Hoped For’ – O’Connell

“We’re trying harder to throw the ball in certain situations,” OC Dave Canales said. “He would love to have a couple of those back. The tipped interception the other week, those are going to happen. The one on Sunday right there, if he gets the ball to Rachaad [White], we get a big gain. He knows. He knows that.”