Baker Mayfield began the early weeks of the season at full throttle. In fact, there was even talk of him as a potential MVP candidate. Now, he is only a faint aspirant to that same award. The Tampa Bay quarterback has collapsed in his performance, just as his team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has also fallen apart.
This Thursday, December 11, Week 15 of the NFL kicked off with a divisional matchup in which the Bucs hosted the Atlanta Falcons. The game was crucial for Tampa Bay and its hopes of reaching the postseason.
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The Buccaneers arrived after a painful and humiliating loss to the New Orleans Saints, a team that has looked pitiful this season. However, despite being the inferior squad, the Saints showed that against a divisional opponent, everything must be left on the field, and that is exactly what happened.
Tampa Bay held a comfortable 14-point lead that Kirk Cousins managed to erase, ultimately guiding his team to a final opportunity in the closing seconds to attempt a field goal that ended up giving them the victory.
With this second consecutive loss, the Bucs have fallen from a 74% chance of reaching the playoffs to just 54%. And for Week 16, they will essentially be facing a do-or-die game against another NFC South divisional rival, the Carolina Panthers.
Powerful duel between Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins
Baker Mayfield delivered a solid performance in his outing against the Falcons. 19-of-34 completed passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Despite this, his team was not strong enough to withstand Atlanta’s surge.
For his part, Kirk Cousins, even though his team no longer has anything left to fight for except a better record, since their postseason hopes have vanished, produced a very strong performance: 30-of-43 passes for 372 yards, three TDs, and zero interceptions.
It is worth remembering that Cousins is replacing Michael Penix Jr., who is injured and will not return for the remainder of the season. And Kirk has delivered performances that have ranged from moderately to generally well-received.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ playoff chances
The Bucs entered with a strong probability of reaching the postseason before the frantic game in Atlanta. And despite the loss to the Saints, they still had a 74% chance. According to the NFL’s Playoff Picture prediction model, if they had pulled off a victory this past Thursday against the Falcons, their chances would have jumped to 80%. But with the loss, they plummeted to just 54%.
At this moment, the Bucs are second in the NFC South at 7-7, behind the Carolina Panthers, who are 7-6 and will play this weekend against the New Orleans Saints-a team that, on paper, is inferior this year and should not pose major problems. Although the same was said about Tampa Bay facing them, we already saw the final result.
That is why next week’s matchup in Week 16 will be vital for the Buccaneers if they want to stay alive in the playoff race. They must defeat the Panthers who, if they win, will make things much more complicated for Tampa Bay next Sunday, December 21.
The dice have now been cast for Baker Mayfield and his team, who must hope that the things they failed to do on the field are somehow compensated by results elsewhere.
