Baker Mayfield Said He And Emeka Egbuka Were Ready To Spring The Play That Won The Game
September 7th, 2025
Went for the kill shot.
Emeka Egbuka’s 25-yard touchdown catch from Baker Mayfield turned out to be the winning play for the Bucs. That play, Mayfield said, was brewing for some time in the second half.
Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network, Mayfield said Egbuka ran the same route earlier in the second half and he didn’t get the ball to him. Mayfield said to himself (and later to Egbuka) he was putting that play in his hip pocket. If the Dixie Chicks showed the same look later, Mayfield would spring it loose.
So on the game-winning drive for the Bucs, Atlanta gave Mayfield that same look. As Mayfield broke the huddle, he said he nodded at Egbuka. And the rookie (in name only) nodded back, Mayfield knew it was on.
And BOOM! Egbuka hauls the ball in for his second touchdown of the game giving the Bucs a 23-20 lead.
Todd Bowles, of course, raved on the Buccaneers Radio Network how Egbuka certainly didn’t act like a rookie in his first game and if Mayfield and Egbuka are already on the same page like that, look out NFL!
“If they are doing that early in the season, that is great for us,” Bowles said. “And it is just going to benefit us going forward.”
As far as Mayfield and Egbuka going for the throat of the Dixie Chicks, Bowles said that is exactly what the team wanted to do today.
“We didn’t go for the kill last year [at Atlanta],” Bowles said. “I thought we played it safe.
“We messed up some things. But we didn’t come down here to tie and go to overtime.”
As for Egbuka, Mayfield said he’s not a rookie.
“Hell no!” Mayfield said. “We are blessed to have him.”