CLEVELAND, Ohio — Once again, Tampa Bay won a game by the skin of their teeth.
Primarily during the two-minute drill, in which we saw a 15-yard scramble on fourth-and-10 from quarterback Baker Mayfield, to Bucky Irving going up the gut for the game-winning touchdown.
The Buccaneers joined the 1979′ Cleveland Browns as the only teams to win a game, despite trailing in the final minute of both contests.
Despite this, Mayfield isn’t satisfied..
When asked about how gratifying it feels to be 2-0, Mayfield didn’t hesitate to pour cold water on the notion that the team should be satisfied.
“Ton of room to grow, we haven’t played closely or not even close to being good,” Mayfield said during Wednesday’s media availability.
This isn’t just typical athlete speak about “room for improvement.” Mayfield’s assessment comes with specific standards and expectations that expose the gap between where the Bucs are and where they believe they should be.
“Wins will always take those, but yeah, offensively, we just need to be more consistent,” Mayfield explained. “That’s what we try and say is the standard around here is we got to be able to be explosive, score a lot of points, and consistency is the main thing.”
What makes Mayfield’s critique particularly compelling is the context.
Tampa Bay has manufactured back-to-back victories versus Atlanta and Houston.
Many teams would be celebrating such a start, but the quarterback’s unwillingness to accept “good enough” signals a championship mindset taking root.
Tampa Bay’s offensive performance has indeed been inconsistent. They’ve shown flashes of brilliance – particularly in starting fast and finishing strong – but the middle quarters have revealed vulnerabilities that better teams might exploit.
“We’ve had some good plays here and there. Obviously we started fast which was the emphasis but they made some adjustments and we need to make the adjustments too midgame,” Mayfield said.
What’s particularly telling is Mayfield’s accountability. Rather than blaming circumstances like reshuffled offensive line personnel or defensive adjustments, he puts the responsibility squarely on execution.
“We just got to be able to execute it better,” Mayfield said.
This standard-setting might be exactly what Tampa Bay needs in the post-Tom Brady era. With expectations lowered externally, Mayfield is ensuring they remain sky-high internally.
The quarterback seems to understand that early-season wins against conference opponents are valuable, but September success means little if the team doesn’t continue to evolve.
For Bucs fans, this mindset should be encouraging. An undefeated team with a quarterback who believes they haven’t scratched the surface of their potential suggests the ceiling is much higher than analysts predicted before the season.
As Tampa Bay prepares for the New York Jets in Week 3, Mayfield’s message is clear: the record is nice, but the standard is excellence, not just winning. If the Buccaneers can match their quarterback’s ambition with execution, this 2-0 start might just be the beginning of something special – even if Baker isn’t ready to celebrate it yet.
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com's Browns reporters.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.