In Monday night’s 32-9 Wild Card win over the Eagles, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield cemented himself in franchise history not only for guiding the team to its third-largest margin of victory in a postseason win, but for doing something that not even the great Tom Brady did in his three playoff appearances with Tampa Bay.

Mayfield became the first quarterback in Bucs history to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff game.

Baker Mayfield: the first Bucs QB to ever throw for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs in a playoff game 👀 pic.twitter.com/Lc3Fh558FJ

— PFF TB Buccaneers (@PFF_Buccaneers) January 16, 2024

Only Baker Mayfield and Tom Brady have thrown for 300-plus yards in a Bucs playoff game, but with his fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Chris Godwin, Mayfield separated himself as the first-ever to go for 300-plus yards – and three touchdowns. It was a masterful performance from the Tampa Bay quarterback, who overcame some bad drops by his typically reliable receivers to still finish completing 22-of-36 passes for 337 yards and three scores.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Even bigger for Mayfield and the Bucs is that they put up 32 points and controlled the game by largely relying on the supporting cast of weapons. David Moore had a 44-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, rookie Trey Palmer had a 56-yard score in the third quarter and tight end Cade Otton was the leading receiver on the night with a career-high eight catches for 89 yards.

“Big time,” Mayfield said after the game. “You know, they were running a couple coverages where they were double-teaming Mike [Evans] and Chris [Godwin] at the same time, so those guys had a lot of one-on-ones and took advantage of their opportunities, but, yeah, they played amazing. Obviously pretty simple plays, they did the rest. That’s always good as a quarterback just to be able to give it to them. An easy throw and they do the rest, so happy for those guys.”

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles credited Mayfield after the game for being sharp throughout the night, even as his receivers let him down with five or six drops in the first half alone.

“He was sharp. I mean, the whole game he was sharp,” Bowles said. “They dropped some balls but he kept coming back, he kept going to them. He was putting the ball only a place where they could catch it. He didn’t turn it over. They kept making play after play after play. He did a hell of a job.”

Baker Mayfield Further Solidifies His Comeback Story On A Big Stage

Baker Mayfield walked into Monday night’s game at Raymond James Stadium as no stranger to the playoffs. In fact, he entered the 2023 season as the only quarterback in the NFC South with a playoff victory. He previously led the 2020 Browns to their first postseason win since the 1994 playoffs. That feels like a lifetime ago given Mayfield’s journey, but if the 28-year-old quarterback’s comeback story needed any more solidifying, Monday’s win over the Eagles did it.

Mayfield followed in Tom Brady’s footsteps in multiple ways this season, and that continued in the NFC Wild Card Round. Like Brady, Mayfield made Tampa Bay the second team he’s won a playoff game with in his career.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

After Mayfield bounced from Cleveland to Carolina to Los Angeles to Tampa Bay during the 2023 calendar year, he has seemingly found a home again. He threw for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions during the regular season, helping the Bucs to their third straight NFC South title.

But then, with the lights the brightest they’ve been so far this season, he turned in an excellent performance to keep his team’s season alive. And he did so after battling through rib and ankle injuries throughout the week.

What comes next for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs, at least as far as the offseason and future is concerned, we’ll have to wait and find out. The two sides were reportedly interested in a new contract earlier this season, but those talks will wait until the offseason. And obviously, the offseason was put off another week as Tampa Bay survived and advanced with its win over Philadelphia.

But given the playoff win and the fact that Todd Bowles and his staff will have saved their jobs as a result, it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see the team run it back with its QB1 in 2024.