The Minnesota Vikings might need to switch up some of their signals for Week 2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield supposedly cracked the Vikings’ defensive codes during their clash in Week 1.
Buccaneers running back Rachaad White made an appearance on “Bucs Total Access” on Monday night. White was asked by co-host Ali Marpet about what sparked the Buccaneers’ offense to perform better midway through their 20-17 win over the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.
White pointed to better third-down execution and playing more up-tempo. But he also shared that Mayfield came into the locker room during halftime believing that he had deciphered the Vikings defense’s signals (9:09 mark).
“[Mayfield] said, ‘I got it. We got all these signals,’” White said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “We’re in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover 2. If they do this, they’re going into Cover 3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they’re dropping back to this.’”
True enough, Mayfield and the Buccaneers came out of the halftime break and scored a touchdown on their very first drive of the second half. Though Tampa Bay would only score 10 points in the second half, their offense flowed much better in the final two quarters.
Mayfield and the Buccaneers offense converted on enough plays to secure the 3-point win. Perhaps Mayfield’s in-game discovery gave him the confidence to deal a massive stiff-arm — and to talk some trash — against an unsuspecting Vikings defender.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores may need to make some tweaks to the team’s signals ahead of their Week 2 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
