Two years ago, the Carolina Panthers had both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold in their quarterback room. Now, both players are among NFL leaders in touchdown passes. No question, quarterback-needy teams have made New Year’s resolutions to follow in the footsteps of the Buccaneers and Vikings next season.
Mayfield joined Joe Burrow in earning the respective NFC and AFC Offensive Player of the Week awards, the league announced Tuesday. The Tampa Bay quarterback was 27 of 32 (84.4 percent) for 359 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions and a 153.0 passer rating in a 48-14 win over the Panthers on Sunday. He’s now won the award three times since signing with the Bucs, including twice this season.
In the process, he joined an exclusive group of five players in NFL history to finish a game with a completion percentage of 80.0 or better, at least 350 passing yards, five touchdown passes and a passer rating of 150.0-plus. The other four were Tom Brady (Oct. 21, 2007, and Oct. 18, 2009, both with New England), Aaron Rodgers (Oct. 20, 2019, with Green Bay), Ben Roethlisberger (Oct. 26, 2014, with Pittsburgh) and Deshaun Watson (Oct. 6, 2019, with Houston).
Mayfield has 39 touchdown passes this season, tied for second in the NFL behind Burrow (42). The Bucs’ veteran also ranks fourth in the league with a 107.6 passer rating. In fact, three of top five quarterbacks in that category – including Jared Goff (113.6) and Darnold (106.4) — are excelling for playoff-bound teams that didn’t draft them.
Per Doug Clawson of CBS, never in NFL history have three quarterbacks compiled 35-or-more touchdown passes for teams that didn’t bring them into the league. Mayfield (39), Goff (36) and Darnold (35) have done it this season.
Teams can never have too many good quarterbacks. Keep that in mind while watching Mitch Trubisky, Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz play this week, respectively for the Bills, Rams and Chiefs. Another reboot quarterback to watch is Jets castaway Zach Wilson, currently backing up Bo Nix in Denver. Drew Lock (N.Y. Giants) and Marcus Mariota (Washington) also could serve as bridges to future rookie starters.
For more information on the Bucs and Bengals, visit the Tampa Bay and Cincinnati team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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