An elephant never forget and neither does Baker Mayfield.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mayfield led his team to an exciting 29-27 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Things did get dicey after Tampa Bay blew a 23-6 lead in the second half and let the Jets briefly take a 27-26 lead on an improbable blocked-field-goal touchdown with 1:49 left to go. But Mayfield still managed to lead the team on a 48-yard drive that culminated with a game-winning field goal by Chase McLaughlin as time expired in the fourth quarter.
Chase McLaughlin with the 36-yard game winner after another crazy ending. Phew…
— SleeperBucs (@SleeperTBBUCS) September 21, 2025
: @NFL
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After the game, Mayfield, who went 19/29 for 233 yards and a touchdown on the day (plus another 44 yards on the ground), got a bit petty in his postgame press conference. He spoke on the emotions of the game and called out Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks in particular.
“Their D-coordinator was the one that cut me in Carolina,” Mayfield said. “So a lot of stuff was personal today. [Bucs teammate] Haason Reddick [is also a] former Jet. Lot of people.”
Scary: Baker Mayfield on beating the Jets.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 21, 2025
"Their D-coordinator (Steve Wilks) was the one who cut me in Carolina. A lot of stuff was personal today."
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Indeed, Wilks used to serve as the interim head coach of the Panthers during Mayfield’s forgettable stint there in the 2022 season. The two even overlapped on the Cleveland Browns during the 2019 season when Mayfield was their quarterback and Wilks was their defensive coordinator.
On top of that, there was some other past history in play with Sunday’s Buccaneers-Jets matchup too. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles used to serve as head coach of the Jets, and Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor (who drew the start Sunday for the injured Justin Fields) used to be teammates with Mayfield on the Browns in 2018, competing with him for the starting QB job.
If we know one thing for certain, it is that the two-time Pro Bowler Mayfield loves taking things personally. We saw that with Mayfield’s petty back-and-forth with an opponent after a win in Week 2, and we saw that again on Sunday with his swipe at Wilks after a win in Week 3.
