Sooners in the NFL: Former Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield Dominates Chargers

Mayfield threw four touchdown passes as Tampa Bay pulled away to a comfortable victory in Los Angeles with their fourth consecutive victory.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Facing the NFL’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense was no big deal for Baker Mayfield.

The former Oklahoma star roasted the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at LA’s SoFi Stadium, leading Tampa Bay to a massive 40-17 victory.

Mayfield completed 22-of-27 passes and threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns as the Buccaneers won their fourth game in a row, improved to 8-6 overall and seized control of the NFC South standings.

Mayfield hooked up with Mike Evans nine times for 159 yards and third-quarter touchdowns of 57 yards and 35 yards as the Bucs overcame a three-point halftime deficit with a 17-0 outburst in the third quarter.

It was a big day for Evans — who missed three games earlier this season with a hamstring injury — as the future Hall of Famer now has 103 career receiving TDs.

For Mayfield, his four passing TDs give him a career-high 32 on the season. That total ranks third in the NFL.

The Chargers (8-6) got two touchdown throws from Justin Herbert — one in the first quarter and one in the second — as LA took a 17-10 lead. But in the third quarter, the Bucs defense came down with Herbert’s second interception of the season, ending a streak of 357 consecutive passes without a pick, and Mayfield and the Bucs offense poured it on.

Rookie Jalen McMillan began things with a 26-yard touchdown grab from Mayfield on the game’s opening drive. It was the Bucs’ seventh touchdown on an opening drive this season — tied with Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals for the most in the NFL.

After Mayfield found Evans twice for scores in the third quarter — the first one a long catch and run down the left sideline, the second a deep ball over the top to Evans in the end zone — Mayfield then dropped a check down throw to Rachaad White, who sliced through traffic for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Bucs up 37-17.

While the Tampa defense was holding the Chargers to just 207 total yards, Mayfield and the Bucs offense was compiling 505 yards and coasting to a comfortable victory.

With Atlanta’s four consecutive losses, Tampa has surged to a two-game lead in the NFC South with just three games to play — at Dallas, home versus Carolina and home versus New Orleans — and all three currently have a losing record. The Bucs have won three straight NFC South titles.

Mayfield also came into the week ranked seventh in the NFL with 3,329 passing yards. His performance Sunday gives him 3,617 this season, which stands as the fourth-best total of his career with three games still to play.