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Sooners In the NFL: Former Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield Cooks Carolina

The Sooners' 2017 Heisman winner had one of his best games as Tampa Bay's push to the playoffs continued with an emphatic victory over the Panthers.

John E. Hoover

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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Baker Mayfield already had all the motivation he needed on Sunday.

Get the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into the NFL playoffs.

The fact that Mayfield was playing against one of the teams that once deemed him expendable was just icing on the cake — or, in Mayfield’s case, more ink on his wall.

Mayfield and the Bucs roasted the Carolina Panthers 48-14 on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium

Mayfield got out the gate fast and kept his foot on the gas pedal, throwing a career-high five touchdowns and completing 27-of-32 passes for 359 yards as Tampa rolled to a decisive — and important — victory.

With the win, the Bucs improved to 9-7 overall to stay within a game of NFC South co-leader Atlanta, who owns the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their two-game season sweep.

Tampa has won the last three NFC South titles, including last year when Mayfield arrived under a one-year, prove-it contract. He proved it by leading the Bucs back to the postseason with a career year: 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and a .643 completion percentage.

He’s upped those numbers this season, throwing for 3,920 yards with 34 touchdowns and a .709 completion percentage — with one game left.

The Falcons play at Washington (10-5) on Sunday night. Tampa can also finish behind Atlanta and still clinch a playoff berth if the Commanders lose twice while Tampa wins next week's season finale against New Orleans (5-10). The Saints are quarterbacked by former Sooners QB Spencer Rattler.

Mayfield’s day began on the opening drive with a 2-yard TD throw to Mike Evans. 

After the Panthers tied it on a 17-yard pass from Bryce Young to Adam Thielen, Chase McLaughlin kicked two field goals to put Tampa up for good.

Mayfield connected with Evans on a 1-yard fade to make it 20-7, and then he added a 10-yard throw to Jalen McMillian for a 27-7 lead.

In the third quarter, tight end Payne Durham caught Mayfield’s fourth TD for a 34-14 lead.

Mayfield engineered a nine-play, 85-yard drive that began in the third quarter and ended in the fourth quarter with a 48-14 Tampa Bay lead as he fired another TD to McMillian.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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