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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield took the blame for a lost fumble in the fourth quarter of Tampa Bay’s 23-20 wild-card defeat to the Washington Commanders on Sunday night and said that while it will “wear on me for a while,” he’s proud of the way his team competed this season.
The fumble came on a botched jet sweep with rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan. Mayfield lost control of the ball as McMillan went past him and tried to dive on it. Instead, it was recovered by Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner at the Tampa Bay 13.
“That comes back to me, just timing it up correctly,” Mayfield said. “First one all year that it happened on. So obviously the timing of it not great, being backed up. Defense had done a hell of a job getting us the ball, another fourth-down stop and yeah, unfortunate, but that falls on me.”
The play happened on first-and-10 from the Tampa Bay 15 with 11:58 to go in regulation. Washington had made it all the way down to the Tampa Bay 1-yard line on the previous drive, but Bucs defensive lineman Calijah Kancey took down running back Brian Robinson for a loss of 2 yards and the defense forced three incompletions for a turnover on downs.
On the Commanders’ ensuing drive after Mayfield’s fumble, quarterback Jayden Daniels connected with second team All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin on a 5-yard touchdown that, with the extra point, made it 20-17. The Bucs would tie it up on a Chase McLaughlin 32-yard field goal with 4:45 to go, but the defense could not hold. Commanders kicker Zane Gonzalez‘ 37-yard field goal bounced off the right upright and went in.
“[It was] me and Baker not being on the same page,” said McMillan, who caught 2 of 4 targets for 41 receiving yards. “Things like that happen. I mean, shoot, mistakes happen.”
It was Mayfield’s third lost fumble this season, all of them coming after Week 12. It was also the Bucs’ fourth walk-off loss.
“It’s heartbreaking,” McMillan said. “Just to lose like that — I don’t like losing like that.”
When asked what he’d say to Mayfield, coach Todd Bowles said there was nothing to say and commended Mayfield for the season he had, one that often included risk-taking plays outside the pocket where the 6-foot-1 Mayfield put himself in harm’s way.
“He’s your bell cow. Your bell cow takes a shot and if something goes wrong, you’ve got to live with that,” Bowles said. “They’re human. We’re going to make mistakes and he got us here — we wouldn’t even be here without Baker.”
Mayfield trounced last season’s career-best 28 touchdowns with 41 this regular season — tied with MVP candidate Lamar Jackson for second most in the NFL. He raised his completion percentage from 64% to 71%, too, and did so without receiver Chris Godwin, who was lost to a season-ending injury after seven games and was then the NFL’s leader in touchdown receptions and catches, and without the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Mike Evans, for four games.
But those personal milestones meant little to Mayfield, even after resurrecting his career and finding a permanent home in Tampa following stints with three different teams.
“It’s never just about one person, and that’s what this team — it’s what they embodied,” Mayfield said. “That’s the most important part. That’s the thing that they can be proud of, is that we grew together, guys helped each other and stepped up. It’s never about one person. And unfortunately, made a few mistakes to hurt the team today.”
Mayfield said he was proud of the way his team fought. After a four-game losing streak, the Bucs won six of their last seven games to finish 10-7 in the regular season and win the NFC South yet again (it was Mayfield’s second consecutive NFC South title and the Bucs’ fourth). But they fell short of last season’s 32-19 wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles, having hoped to advance beyond the divisional round, where they lost to the Detroit Lions a year ago.
The Bucs opened this season with 37-20 victory over the Commanders in Week 1, then avenged their playoff loss at Detroit with a 20-16 win. Then came a 33-16 victory over the Eagles in Week 4. But the effort wasn’t enough Sunday night, and there will be no trip to Philadelphia.
“It’s disappointing overall because I believe in this team,” Mayfield said. “I believe we have the talent, the coaching staff and everybody around us to be able to go far, but looking back, trying to take a step back, big picture — this group fought, there was a lot of people that stepped up throughout the year, a ton of guys that stepped up into huge roles, and so there’s a lot to be proud of.”
McMillan was one of them. One of two third-round picks by the Bucs, he and Mayfield connected on seven receiving touchdowns in the final five regular-season games, tied with Cincinnati‘s Ja’Marr Chase for the most in that span.
“In this moment that’s hard to see, but there’s a lot of young guys that are going to be on this roster next year that had to step up and did in a big way. That should build confidence in those guys, knowing who they are as players and as men in adversity situations, to be able to step up like they did — that’s something to be proud of,” Mayfield said. “It just goes back to being disappointing and not making the plays when we needed it the most.”
When asked if he would show that same level of kindness and encouragement to himself, Mayfield said, “Probably not. Just some dumb stuff today that cost the team. That’s going to wear on me for a while.”