It's not quite time to pump the breaks on quarterback Mac Jones' surprising resurgence with the San Francisco 49ers in relief of their starter, the injured Brock Purdy.
But Jones' efforts in the Niners' 30-19 Week 6 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were more than inferior to those from the Bucs' own quarterback, Baker Mayfield.
While both signal-callers' respective roles were vastly different heading into the season, Week 6 provided a context where Jones and Mayfield had similarities. San Francisco was without star wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall because of injuries, while fellow receiver Jauan Jennings was banged up.
Mayfield, meanwhile, was without star receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who were ruled out with injuries, and then the quarterback watched rookie standout Emeka Egbuka go down with an in-game injury, too.
In a contest between two 4-1 teams entering the game, one quarterback clearly outplayed the other.
And it wasn't Jones on the better side.
Baker Mayfield wholly outplayed Mac Jones in 49ers' loss to Buccaneers
Sure, Jones' 347 pass yards outgained Mayfield's 256 through the air. Yet the latter was far more effective at finding the end zone, tossing two touchdowns in contrast to Jones' two interceptions. And the latter's six sacks taken were a career-high, too.
And this beautiful toss from Mayfield to rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson was quite a thing of beauty, at least for Bucs fans:
TEZ JOHNSON 🙌
📺: #SFvsTB on CBS pic.twitter.com/VjxU6BYRxC
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 12, 2025
That might not have been the play that broke San Francisco's back, though.
On a 3rd-and-14 play, the 49ers defense seemed to have Mayfield sacked well behind the line of scrimmage, only to watch him somehow break free. That might not have been so bad if he was merely tackled shortly after scrambling across the line of scrimmage, but poor angles and the quarterback's own agility led to an unbelievable first-down pickup on the ground.
Seriously, unbelievable. And it ultimately crushed the Niners' hopes, considering the Johnson score happened shortly thereafter:
Baker Mayfield had just a 3.7% chance of picking up the first down running, per @NextGenStats
He had 27 yards after contact on this 15-yard rush 🤯
Watch live out-of-market games on #NFLPlus
Blackout restrictions may applypic.twitter.com/kGmuSeUQo8
— NFL+ (@NFLPlus) October 12, 2025
There's a reason Mayfield is a frontrunner for league MVP at this point in the season, whereas Jones is still a starting-caliber backup.
"Mac did a pretty good job," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game. "He did some good things today. Nothing on him, it was everyone, collectively. Made too many mistakes, offensively, defensively. Just not good enough."
Mayfield, meanwhile, did more than good enough. It was evident.
Had Jones figured out a way to lead the 49ers back to a road win, especially given all the injury woes that continue to befall his squad, chatter of a quarterback controversy with Purdy might continue, even if it's truly ridiculous.
Now, though, Jones' own hype might be a little more quiet after Mayfield clearly outplayed him in almost every sense.