Buccaneers’ Quarterback Baker Mayfield Knew Minnesota Vikings’ Signals
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered a new era with a good start. In their first game without Tom Brady, the Buccaneers upset the Minnesota Vikings.
The offense was stagnant at first, but the defense and special teams held on, allowing the offense to find its rhythm.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield had nearly half the yardage than Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. However, Cousins had three turnovers to Mayfield's zero turnovers.
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However, Mayfield's leadership overpowered the team's yardage deficit, and allowed the Buccaneers to win 20-17 in a close matchup. Running back Rachaad White confirmed this when he went on the Bucs Total Access show.
“I just remember Bake came in the locker room, literally at halftime, he said, ‘I got it. We got all these signals,'” White said. “We’re in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-2. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they’re dropping back to this.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ … I was just listening to him and we were listening to him and we just kind of understood.”
Evidently, Mayfield sharing this with the team and using his knowledge in his position allows for plenty of things. Expecting a certain coverage allows for the offense to avoid turnovers or huge negative plays, which is how the Buccaneers beat the Vikings. Again, with three takeaways and no turnovers, they had an advantage despite not having the star power to compete with the opposing offense.
This will be how the Buccaneers win most of the games that they're able to. Being smart, aware, taking good leadership and avoiding negative plays and turnovers. After thrown interceptions were an issue and training camp, it's good to see Mayfield be able to lead his team and avoid them in Week 1.
READ MORE: Buccaneers Week 1 Mailbag: Contract Concerns, Devin White, Winning NFC South
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