Baker Mayfield outshines Jordan Love at Lambeau Field on 4-TD day; Bucs beat Packers in critical game for NFC playoff race
The Bucs lead the NFC South and own the tiebreaker over the New Orleans Saints
In a critical game for the the NFC playoff race, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield outshined Green Bay's Jordan Love Sunday in a 34-20 win.
With the win, the Bucs improved to 7-7 to maintain their lead in the NFC South. The Packers dropped to 6-8 and lost control of their path to a wild-card berth.
Mayfield threw four touchdowns, including a 52-yard connection with David Moore late in the fourth quarter to extend Tampa Bay's lead to two scores.
Green Bay's ensuing possession ended on a fourth-down sack of Love that forced a fumble and essentially ended any hopes of a late Green Bay rally.
The win is a third straight for the Bucs, who looked out of the playoff race after a 1-6 midseason stretch dropped them to 4-7. Now they're in control of the NFC South with three weeks remaining.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints beat the New York Giants to improve to 7-7 to keep pace with the Bucs — who have the NFC South tiebreaker — and move ahead of the Packers in the wild-card race.
The Bucs face the Jacksonville Jaguars next week before finishing the season with division games against the Saints and Carolina Panthers. The Packers face the Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in their final three games while looking for help elsewhere to get back into the playoff picture.
The Bucs opened scoring Sunday with a field goal on their first drive and never trailed. They took a 13-10 lead into halftime, then scored touchdowns on each of their second-half possessions before running out the clock in victory formation on their fourth.
Mayfield threw a touchdown on each of Tampa Bay's second-half scoring drives. He finished the day completing 22 of 28 passes for 381 yards (13.6 yards per completion) with no interceptions. The former No. 1 draft pick by the Cleveland Browns now has a shot at playing in what would be his first playoff game since 2021.
Love countered Mayfield by completing 29 of 39 passes for 284 yards (7.3 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns and no turnovers. It wasn't enough as the Packers dropped a second straight game after an upset loss to the New York Giants last week.
