Week 4 Result: Won vs. Philadelphia 33-16

It’s time for the human race to come to grips with a realization that would have been scoffed at not too long ago— Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is legit.

For the second time in September, Mayfield had a huge game in Sunday’s repeat of last year’s Wild Card thrashing of the Eagles—347 passing yards, two passing scores and another touchdown on the ground. The Buccaneers out-gained the Eagles 254 yards to zero in building a 24-0 lead.

“Wanted to get (previous week’s) taste out of our mouth, for sure,” Mayfield said. “Started fast because the guys were just locked in. We came out with a hair-on-fire mentality. Everybody was locked in on what the plan was and we executed. That needs to be the case every week. That’s how we need to start.”

However, despite Sunday’s impressive victory and a three-win September, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles cautioned against putting the cart before the horse.

“The season is four quarters,” Bowles said. “We’ve got three more quarters to go, and we’ve got to show up and play like that every quarter.”

The Buccaneers have another big game looming on Thursday night—a trip to Atlanta to face the Falcons. Win that contest, and Tampa will have a firm grip on the top of the NFC South.

Given how they looked in Week 4, we wouldn’t bet against them.

“Don’t look now,” Sobleski said, “but Baker Mayfield finds himself in the early MVP conversation. His standing with the Buccaneers isn’t just a good story about rebirth after failing at previous stops. He’s now a legit top quarterback during his second season in Tampa. Currently, Mayfield is second in the league with eight passing touchdowns. He also ranks fourth in passing yardage (984) and quarterback rating (106.9). More importantly, the Bucs are 3-1 to start and sit atop the NFC South standings.”