All-22: Breaking Down Baker Mayfield's Batted Passes
The Carolina Panthers are a vehicle with a reckless driver at the wheel. Baker Mayfield’s play isn’t just a problem, it is becoming the problem with the Panthers, and their lack of winning.
After four games, Mayfield has eclipsed 200 yards passing just once, while throwing for four touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of just 75.
To build on that, Mayfield seems to have a severe problem with having passes tipped at the line of scrimmage. The Arizona Cardinals batted several of Mayfield’s throws, one of which resulted in an interception, and others that took away what could have been solid gains, and possibly changed the outcome.
Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was asked about the growing number of tipped passes, and he says the issues stem from a variety of reasons.
“We’ve been watching [the batted passes] as a staff and taking a look at them,” McAdoo said. “Really, they happen for a variety of reasons. When you look at them, each play tells its own story. You’d like to sit here and say it’s this one thing that’s showing that’s leading to a batted ball but that’s not the case. So that’s something we’re diving into, we’re studying. Each one has its own reason for happening.”
We’ll take a look at some of the batted passes from Sunday’s game against Arizona, and break down the issues behind each one.
This first throw is bad for a multitude of reasons. For starters, Mayfield keeps his eyes fixated on Shi Smith in the slot. His eyes never leave Smith, and it’s very obvious that is where he is going with the ball. The linebacker in the middle of the field reads that, and begins moving to his right to potentially intercept the pass. Mayfield is actually lucky this pass was tipped because it was going the other way had it not been. He needs to at least dart his eyes to the right to keep that linebacker honest. Staring down exactly where he is going allowed the linebacker to just sit on that slant route.
This play isn’t all on Baker. The offensive line needed to find a way to keep J.J. Watt grounded and make him a non-factor in the passing game, and they failed at doing so. Mayfield has a clean pocket, goes through his progressions, and looks for Moore on the curl route. Watt gets separation from his block and gets a hand in the way to deflect the pass.
Watt may come in untouched on this play, but Mayfield could have attempted something that didn;t include throwing it directly into the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. He has Shi Smith in the slot uncovered to his left. He also could have pump faked and rolled out to his right to at least try to extend the play and make something happen. He also could have simply thrown the ball higher. Yes, that was more so on the offensive line, but Baker had other options he could have tried in that situation.
Baker makes the correct read here. D.J. Moore is open on the quick out- that’s a smart choice to make to get a quick seven or eight yards on first down. However, he blatantly stares him down the entire way, and J.J. Watt will feast on telegraphs like that all day, every day. Surely enough, Watt gets a paw up, like he has for so many years, and the deflection turns into an interception for the Cardinals.
At this point, we know what Baker Mayfield is. He isn't a guy who is going to guarantee you 10 wins, nor is he someone you can count on to build a team around. He is a middling quarterback who is on the brink of becoming a backup. At this point, Panthers fans should start watching a select number of quarterbacks on Saturdays- a top five draft pick is certainly in the cards.
