With the Bucks, no one felt good after them took the lead in the second half They played against the Falcons on Thursday Night Football and lost 36-30 in overtime. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was among that group, wondering what he could have done to move the Bucs to 4-1 instead of 3-2.
baker mayfield actually played pretty well During the match, especially in the first half. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 180 yards, three touchdown passes and rushed for 42 yards on six attempts. However, Baker Mayfield had a strong first half, completing 12 of 15 for 131 passing yards and all three touchdowns. The second half saw a significant decline, as he only threw for 49 yards as the Bucs struggled to move the football.
Baker Mayfield looks back on his performance
As Baker Mayfield took to the podium after the game, he didn’t think about his success at all, instead focusing on the few throws he missed, including an overthrow on a deep ball.
Bucks QB Baker Mayfield – Photo courtesy of USA Today
“All I care about is winning,” Baker Mayfield said. “That’s it. So we have to find a way to finish the game offensively. I was thinking about the missed shot to Shep in the first half. [Sterling Shepard]. It should have been a touchdown, but ended up scoring three points. I keep going over that in my head, but maybe it shouldn’t even have been an overtime situation. When they are there, I have to make a play. In the second half, we had to take care of our soccer and finish with offense. ”
The throw error was disappointing, but what hurt the most was the Bucks’ inability to close out the game in the final minutes. Twice they had the ball in field goal range where they had a chance to finish off the Falcons or at least extend their lead to six points, but Atlanta would have gotten a touchdown instead of kicking a field goal and forcing overtime. I would have had to decide.
On the first drive, Bucky Irving fumbled as the Bucks gained momentum on the ground. After a tough night, Tampa Bay’s defense somehow found a way to make stops, and Lavonte David finally intercepted Kirk Cousins on fourth down, pushing the Bucs to the Falcons’ 28. A controversial holding penalty on Graham Burton should have been overturned. Atlanta’s facemask penalty was not called, and Tampa Bay was forced back 10 yards. Then a run backwards pushed the Bucs out of range of Chase McLaughlin.
Not finding a way to win the game in late-game situations was another focus of Mayfield’s response.
“It’s just going back and forth,” Mayfield said when describing the game. “Obviously, every time we get the ball back in the fourth quarter, we raise awareness with our players and say, ‘We need to finish this, we need to finish it the right way, we need to finish it with a score and finish this game. Once they got into the fourth quarter, we realized we needed to hit the reset button and started preparing for overtime. Of course, based on the rules, there is no opportunity to go outside. But yeah, it’s not ideal for us. ”
How will the Bucks bounce back?
Bucks QB Baker Mayfield – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The Bucks have 10 days until the game. their next match Sunday, October 13th, on the road against the New Orleans Saints. They still have a whole season left and are in a three-team race for the top spot in the division.
Tampa Bay should take their mind off a tough loss with an overtime game on the road. However, when they return, another high-stakes division match awaits them. How will they reunite? Getting some injured players back will be a start.
“I think first and foremost, everyone needs to take this time to get healthy,” Baker Mayfield said. “A lot of guys left tonight. We were already a little bit beat up, so we all need to be professional, take care of ourselves and just regroup. Get back to basics and do the rest. That’s it. On the offensive side, I think you’ll look back at the tape and realize we didn’t execute accurately in the second half.”
