Baker Mayfield exorcises personal demons in Buccaneers' win over Packers
Baker Mayfield has had some promising moments over the previous two seasons. The Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field brought him crashing back to reality in December. On Sunday, Mayfield flipped the season script in a very big way. Mayfield threw for 381 yards with 4 touchdowns in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 34-20 win over the […]
Baker Mayfield has had some promising moments over the previous two seasons. The Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field brought him crashing back to reality in December.
On Sunday, Mayfield flipped the season script in a very big way.
Mayfield threw for 381 yards with 4 touchdowns in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 34-20 win over the Packers. The performance was a historic one, as Mayfield's 158.3 passer rating – considered to be perfect – is the highest in the history of the NFL for all visiting quarterbacks at Lambeau Field.
Mayfield led the 7-7 Browns into Lambeau Field on Christmas Day in 2021 with playoff hopes still very much alive. A 24-22 loss ensued that all but wrecked those chances. Mayfield threw two touchdowns with four interceptions with a passer rating of 55.3.
Last year, after being waived by Carolina and claimed by the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield caught America's attention after leading a last-minute drive to clip the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football. The following week? A 24-12 loss to the Packers in Lambeau. Mayfield largely struggled, throwing for only 111 yards with a touchdown and an interception with a 67.8 rating.
But there's a very good reason that Mayfield – and most quarterbacks for that matter – have struggled at the Packers' historic venue. It's a tough place to play. It's loud. It's intimidating. It's typically uncomfortably cold for a good part of the season.
However, Mayfield couldn't have looked more comfortable and at home as he slung the ball left and right all over the field on Sunday. And most weren't easy catch and runs either. Chris Godwin was running free through the Packers secondary for much of the game, and Mayfield found him early and often. Godwin finished with 10 catches for 155 yards.
The Buccaneers walked out of Lambeau Field in first place and with plenty of momentum as they try for their third division title in a row. And Mayfield can leave those terrible memories from yesteryear inside what is no longer his personal house of horrors.
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