Baker Mayfield’s late-game interceptions continue to derail the Buccaneers' playoff hopes, forcing a desperate push in Week 18.
Baker Mayfield was one of the biggest reasons the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like a Super Bowl contender for the first half of this season.
He’s also been one of the biggest reasons the team has fallen flat on its face in the second half.
Through the first nine games, Mayfield had a TD/INT ratio of 16/2, and the Bucs had a 6-3 record.
In the seven games since, Mayfield’s has thrown almost as many interceptions (six) as touchdown passes (seven), and the Bucs are 1-6.
Coming into this Saturday’s game against the Dolphins in Miami, Mayfield was confident that Tampa would get it together, despite knowing that the team hadn’t been playing “our best.”
"Our back is against the wall," said Mayfield. "Pretty comfortable there."
"I trust this group," Mayfield said. "I know that. We all know that. But we can still accomplish everything we want to."
Mayfield knew how big a deal beating the Dolphins would be for the NFC South race, which Tampa Bay can now only win if it beats Carolina at home next weekend.
"We have to win at Miami," Mayfield said in the days leading up to the game. "Our focus right now is doing everything we possibly can to find a way to win in Miami and see what happens from there."
It did not happen.
This is the third straight game where Mayfield has thrown a costly interception late.
The first one happened against Atlanta, after which, Mayfield took the heat instead of head coach Todd Bowles.
"In a game like that... like I said postgame, it comes down to the offense," Mayfield said. “You're up two scores, you have a chance to put the game away and you don't. The easy thing to do is point at the defense, because their situation is the last thing you see in the game. But if you look at the whole game, you look at the way it played, blame me, don't blame Todd."
The next week in Carolina, Tampa was driving late down by three.
Once again, Mayfield threw a costly pick.
“And that's the thing, you can look and say, 'Should have done this. Should have done that,” Mayfield said afterward. “But it's just the timing of the play, and it happens in a millisecond, and, unfortunately, today, it wasn't on the right side for us.
Against Miami, Mayfield threw two picks— the first one setting up a touchdown in the first half and the second one ending any realistic hope of a Bucs comeback.
Now, it all comes down to Week 18.