Baker Mayfield Showed His True Character After Sunday Night's Loss

01/13/2025 09:35 AM

A shocked Baker Mayfield is going to have to live with Sunday night's loss for a long time.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Washington Commanders, 23-20, at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday evening. The Commanders topped the Bucs on a game-winning field goal from kicker Zane Gonzalez. Washington, led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, is off to the Divisional Round, where they will be taking on No. 1 seed Detroit.

For Tampa Bay, it's a tough end to a good season. The Bucs had plenty of chances to put the Commanders away, but Baker Mayfield and Co. had some brutal mistakes.

Most notably, Baker Mayfield fumbled a snap inside of his own 20-yard line, setting up an easy score for the Commanders. 

Baker, though, took all of the blame for the mistakes that happened on Sunday night. It would have been easy for him to deflect or refuse to talk about things, given how painful it must have been, but the former No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick showed his true character while speaking to the media.

He's going to own this.

"Just some dumb stuff today that cost the team," Mayfield said. "It's going to wear on me for a while."

NFL fans are praising Mayfield for owning up to mistakes and having a good 2024 season.

"Baker has had such an incredible year and has had many clutch moments throughout the season. Stuff happens. Nobody in that locker room is blaming him for the loss and the fans shouldn't either," one fan wrote.

"It was a great season, and I'm proud of the team," one fan added.

"This makes me Love Baker that much more…. EVERYTHING he says is about leadership! Baker Mayfield IS the Buccaneers franchise quarterback!!!!!" one fan added.

"Sad that Baker is ultimately going to blame this on himself when he had an incredible year," one fan added.

Baker Mayfield took the blame for the fumble today and didn't mince words when he said that it "absolutely sucks". But then you'll hear him talk about how proud he is of this team and the way guys stepped up. I asked if he thought he could show that kindness to himself… pic.twitter.com/eRCsFjnMXV

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 13, 2025

Baker had a great year and, hopefully, he'll be able to put this one behind him and head into the 2025 season newly motivated.

The Bucs should contend for a playoff spot once again next year.