Leading an NFL team into his home state of Texas isn’t new for Baker Mayfield. What would be new for the Tampa Bay quarterback is helping his team take a big step toward the playoffs while playing so close to where he grew up.
A four-game winning streak has the Buccaneers (8-6) in first place in the NFC South, and they will try to hold on to that spot against Dallas on Sunday night.
The Cowboys (6-8) are nearly eliminated from playoff contention, which would end their three-year playoff streak. This comes after losing star quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending hamstring injury after just eight games.
This will be Mayfield’s second game at AT&T Stadium — the first was a 49-38 win with Cleveland four years ago in front of a limited crowd due to the pandemic.
“There’s a lot of memories that I have,” said Mayfield, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and played high school football in the Austin area. “I played a state championship game in high school there, Big 12 championship there. It’s close enough to Oklahoma that you always see a lot of Sooner jerseys in there. For me, it’s special.”
Mayfield lost twice in Houston, the first time as the No. 1 overall pick when the Browns weren’t serious playoff contenders.
A year ago, Mayfield’s Bucs fell to 3-5 with a loss to the Texans, but they went on a late-season surge to win the division title and secure a wild-card victory.
This year’s path is similar, and Tampa Bay is coming off a big 40-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, who were still in playoff contention in the AFC.
“We didn’t listen when we were losing. We’re not listening now that we’re winning, so that’s not going to be a big deal,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We have enough sarcastic coaches and sarcastic players to insult people to keep everybody grounded so that we’re all ready to work, so that’s not a problem at all.”
For the Cowboys, the postseason has seemed out of reach for about a month, but they’ve still won three of their last four games with coach Mike McCarthy working under an expiring contract.
This season is likely to end with four starters on injured reserve — Prescott, seven-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin (ankle), 2021 All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs (knee), and four-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
“Obviously, it’s important to live, learn and apply to the future. I do enjoy these questions, because I am a philosopher,” McCarthy said, trying to keep a straight face. “We need to beat Tampa. At the end of the day, our job is to create the culture, make sure the team is being trained properly and make sure our guys are getting everything they need to win football games.”
