NFL recognizes Bucs QB Baker Mayfield’s historic day at Lambeau Field

TAMPA — Baker Mayfield’s historic day in the Bucs’ 34-20 win over the Packers Sunday at Lambeau Field was recognized by the NFL on Wednesday, when the quarterback was named NFC offensive player of the week.

It was his fourth such honor, with his third different team. He previously won the AFC award with the Browns in 2018 and 2020. He received the NFC honor last season with the Rams.

He is the ninth Tampa Bay quarterback to be named player of the week and first since Tom Brady in 2021.

Mayfield tried to deflect attention from himself when asked about the honor Wednesday after practice.

“It was one of the best total offensive games we’ve played as a unit,” Mayfield said. “And so, yeah, it could have gone to a lot of our guys.”

But only Mayfield had a historic day.

He became the first visiting player to record a perfect passer rating (158.3) in the history of Lambeau Field, completing 22 of 28 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

It was just the third time in NFL history a quarterback threw for more than 375 yards and four or more touchdowns and had a 158.3 passer rating in a road game. The other two were Nick Foles in 2013 and Ken O’Brien in 1986.

Mayfield joined the 49ers’ Brock Purdy and Bills’ Josh Allen as the only quarterbacks with a perfect passer rating in a game this season.

Mayfield led all NFL quarterbacks in passer rating, passing yards and yards per pass attempt in Week 15. He tied for first in passing first downs and was second in passing touchdowns and fourth in completion percentage (78.6%). His 13.6 yards per pass attempt were the second-most by any quarterback in a game this season and the fourth-most in Bucs history.

The top overall draft pick by the Browns in 2018, Mayfield bounced around the past few years before landing in Tampa Bay as a replacement for future Hall of Famer Tom Brady.

“There are definitely moments in the last year and a half that it’s kind of like, ‘All right, ‘what’s going on here?’” Mayfield said. “But God’s got a plan. So I just trust in that and take it one day at a time, and good things will happen. So not trying to do too much, control what you can and be in the moment. The best, biggest lesson so far is just continue to do your job and move forward.”

The Bucs have been pleased with Mayfield’s ability to step into a difficult situation and be himself.

“He wasn’t trying to beat Tom,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “We didn’t have the same team that we had with Tom. We have completely different guys for the most part. We have a few guys left over here and there, but we’ve revamped our offensive system. We revamped most of our offensive people except about five, maybe.

“... You’re not going to replace Tom, ever. Nobody is. He’s a legend. He’s going to go in the Hall of Fame. …. So (Mayfield) was in a lose-lose from a fan-ballot standpoint to begin with, and he didn’t try to win the fan ballot. He just put his head down and he worked and he won the team over, which is what was great about it.”

In his own, scrappy way, Mayfield is getting things done.

So far this season, he ranks fifth in the league in touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.0). He is tied for eighth in passing touchdowns (24) and ninth in passer rating (94.7). He is one of just five quarterbacks this season with 20-plus touchdowns, nine or fewer interceptions and a passer rating above 94.0, along with Purdy, Dallas’ Dak Prescott, Houston’s C.J. Stroud and Denver’s Russell Wilson.

Mayfield is the only player in Bucs history with 3,000-plus passing yards, 24 or more passing touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions through the first 14 games.

Mayfield also was voted FedEx Air player of the week, in a vote by fans. It’s the second time Mayfield has received the award, the last time in 2020. He is the fifth quarterback in team history to win the award and first since Brady in Week 17 of last season.

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