The Bucs want Baker Mayfield happy, confident and steaming with confidence.
He’s their guy. It’s similar to how the Bucs always tried their best to keep Mike Evans happy and on track for his streak of 1,000-yard seasons.
So the gambler in Joe is wondering how much effort and attention to detail the Bucs will deliver today to get Mayfield the crushing blowout of the Browns he so desperately wants.
Joe has no doubt Mayfield wants a style-points win, one that gets national talking heads buzzing. _“Oh, man, Baker took it to the Browns, 37-13, and look how he celebrated that last touchdown.”_
Mayfield feels spurned by Cleveland after the franchise gave up on him after four seasons, 2018-2021. Cleveland traded him to Carolina and signed QB Deshaun Watson to a gargantuan contract. Ironically, Watson will start for Cleveland today, which surely had Mayfield’s attention.
Will the Bucs run up the score if the game goes a way that puts them in position to try? Did Mayfield try to affect the game plan this week for “bigger” plays early in the game?
Will Mayfield check to more “big-play” opportunities than usual at the line of scrimmage? Will Todd Bowles trend toward playing more aggressive defense late in the game if he has a comfortable lead in an atypical effort to get his offense back on the field?
It’s all very intriguing.
Joe’s not telling anyone how to wager. But when team’s are unusually motivated, good things usually happen.