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- Baker Mayfield buries the ghost of Tom Brady's past after Buccaneers stomp Eagles
Baker Mayfield led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into the divisional round of the NFL playoffs on Monday night, as he produced one of his finest-ever performances in a dominant 32-9 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. With last season's NFC champions out of the picture, the stage is set for a new representative to reach Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
And why shouldn't it be Baker and the Buccaneers? Mayfield may have been a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at the University of Oklahoma, but his NFL career has been anything but straightforward. His resilience through it all drew praise from his pregnant wife Emily, who took to social media on Tuesday to heap praise on the man who has more-than-capably replaced Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
"He never stopped believing"
In a post uploaded to Instagram Stories, Emily Mayfield wrote about her immense pride in her husband, who has had to overcome obstacle after obstacle in his NFL career despite entering the league as a #1 overall pick.
"This smile is everything," Emily wrote over an ESPN graphic showing a beaming Baker, along with his stats from Monday night's game. "So much adversity. So many naysayers. People wanting him to fail."
Mayfield, the top pick in the 2018 draft, was once regarded as the future of the Cleveland Browns' franchise, and he led them to a playoff win in 2021 before the Browns opted to trade for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield has played for three teams since and had little choice but to accept a one-year deal with Tampa Bay last spring -- which has paid off tremendously, and could offer the quarterback some long-awaited stability after he cycled through seven head coaches during his first five years in the NFL.
"He hasn't stopped working, he never stopped believing," Emily wrote. "I am so proud of him."
Baker's big night
Mayfield's career-best season reached a new level Monday night as he took the Bucs a step further than Brady did in 2022. Tampa Bay has earned its shot at the Detroit Lions next Sunday, with a place in the NFC Championship Game on the line.
Mayfield threw for 337 yards on Monday, slicing open the Eagles' defense for his second-highest yardage total of the 2023 season. He threw three touchdown passes -- aided in part by some bad Philadelphia tackling -- and Tampa outgained Philly by 150 yards in a complete performance.
Visiting Ford Field to take on the Lions will present a different challenge for Mayfield and the Bucs, but he has already soared past even the most optimistic expectations entering the season. Mayfield has clearly thrived on being the underdog in an NFL career that has taken many twists and turns, and he will be confident of leading Tampa to an upset.