Nobody is happy with what happened Thursday night when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Atlanta Falcons 36-30.
Because of that fact, there's about a zero percent chance Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is sitting at home smiling about his three touchdown performances that led to a 137.5 passer rating, better than Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins' rating of 114.8.
Ultimately, the only stat that mattered — the win and the loss — went the wrong way for Tampa Bay. So there is no joy from Week 5 at One Buc Place. However, that doesn't stop those on the outside from noticing the small positives.
“I thought Baker played excellent.," former Mayfield coach Todd Haley, now a Sirius XM analyst, said following the performance. "You know, I’m one of the ones that I always believe he’s a little too streaky for me at times.”
Haley's experience with Mayfield is unique to that of those of us fortunate to be watching the best days of the quarterback's career.
While he may have helped lead the Cleveland Browns to their first playoff win in just about forever, it never really felt like that team was truly behind the quarterback they drafted No. 1 overall. Which is odd, but ultimately it sent Mayfield down a path that brought him to Tampa where franchise and fan base alike seem to be bought into what he can do for himself and the team.
Haley may remember Mayfield as a streaker version of himself compared to what we see with the Buccaneers, but the quarterback has his own memories of the coach.
"He tore me apart," Mayfield said about Haley in an appearance on Pardon My Take earlier this year. Reflecting on his experiences with the coach during his rookie season in 2018. "He did it to everybody. It wasn't like he would make it personal unless you just didn't give a (expletive). That was the only time he would single you out. He would let you know you're pretty damn stupid."
Mayfield recalled Haley as being the last coach to really get into him from a tongue-lashing perspective. But it appears now, that even if Tampa Bay isn't looking to celebrate silver-linings, the former coach is seeing some good things within the latest brutal loss for the Bucs.
