Tampa’s coaching staff has unlocked Baker Mayfield’s potential, Mayfield says

Don’t look now, but Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stand alone as the NFC South’s best team. And Mayfield, who completed 25 of his 32 pass attempts to complement three TDs in the game, is playing perhaps the best football of his career.

He attributes his early success to the savvy of his coaching staff. 

“This is only the second time in my pro career that I’ve had a coaching staff that lets me play to my full potential,” Mayfield said, undeniably alluding to the many coaches he played for during his time in Cleveland and Carolina. “McVay understood what I’m capable of but no one else before that did.”

Though things ended poorly in Cleveland, Mayfield did enjoy some success with the Browns. The team made its first playoff appearance in nearly two decades in 2020 after Mayfield led it to an 11-5 record. But the Browns’ next season was disastrous, and so was Mayfield’s short stint with the Panthers.

With Tampa though, he seems to have tapped into something priceless, at least for the time being.