ESPN NFL Insider: Buccaneers Need to Depend Less on Baker Mayfield

Have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) leaned too heavily on quarterback Baker Mayfield to carry this team?

According to Mina Kimes, they have. ESPN's NFL insider believes the Bucs' problems stem from relying too much on the NFL journeyman QB and former Heisman Trophy winner. 

"Against Carolina Baker Mayfield doesn’t need to be a hero...he needs to be a distributor," Kimes posted on X on Friday.

"I think what was so underestimated last year was that he was in such a great quarterbacking environment," she said on The Mina Kimes Show podcast Friday. "The screens was so good, the run game was so efficient. He wasn’t asked to carry this offense.

"And we’ve seen this year that asking him to carry the offense is actually not a great idea," Kimes said, highlighting that Mayfield playing the star role in the Bucs offense has led to bad habits and poor decisions.

Kimes added the Bucs would play into the Panthers' hands if Mayfield tries to push the ball downfield with longer passes. The Bucs' best chance to win this game, Kimes offered, is through the short-passing game, which Mayfield appears to excel at.

After Tampa Bay's embarrassing 20-17 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday,  head coach Todd Bowles had a few choice words for his quarterback.

"We’ve got to be better at the quarterback position, and we’ve got to be better at the signal-calling position," Bowles said in a postgame press conference. "And we’ve got to be better blocking it."

Sounds like he was sending a direct message to Mayfield to get his act together. Mayfield was once in the conversation for NFL MVP as the Bucs got off to quick start in the NFC South.

But the team has now lost seven of their last nine games, including one to the division-rival Panthers on Dec. 21. The Buccaneers will face Carolina (8-8) again Saturday to win the South and get into the playoffs.

If Mayfield can just keep the offense on track and keep Panthers' defenders at bay, the Bucs have a good chance of winning. However, as Kimes noted, he can’t feel as if he needs to carry this team on his back, because that strategy so far has not worked.

The Buccaneers are better with a balanced attack, and that includes running the football.