The Buccaneers lost to the Bills in Week 11, but quarterback Baker Mayfield came out of the game feeling better about the team’s offense.
Mayfield said the unit lacked “killer instinct” after they lost to the Patriots in Week 10 and said it was his job to make sure that the complacency he felt he saw in the loss didn’t become a weekly feature of the offense. They scored on two of their first five possessions in that game, but they put up points four of the six times they had the ball in the first half against the Bills.
The 44-32 final didn’t go their way, but Mayfield said “there was a difference mentally” in the way the Bucs played against Buffalo.
“I think, without a doubt, the fight, the passion, the energy was there,” Mayfield said, via a transcript from the team. “I think mentally, everybody was locked in. Whether [we] lost focus during the game or just didn’t make the plays — difference there. That’s the mentality we have to come out with starting fast and being physical, especially on offense. I think everybody was bought in on that one.”
The Bucs have now lost three of four games, which has the Panthers nipping at their heels in the race for the NFC South. That means they’ll need to start making the plays at the big moments in games if the shift in mentality is going to have the effect Mayfield wants it to have come the end of the season.