Nothing has come easy for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs in 2025. But maybe it’s better that way.

After all, you’re going to face adversity at some point over the course of an NFL season. Facing it and overcoming it the way the Bucs have in the first three weeks of the season isn’t easy. And just because Tampa Bay is dealing with it now doesn’t mean the team is getting it out of the way, as there’s surely going to be more to come as the rest of the season unfolds. But the way they’ve been overcoming the odds week in and week out when their backs are against the wall?

These Bucs are battle-tested.

Moments after another late, come-from-behind win – this one over a Jets team that had come back from down 23-6 in the fourth quarter – Mayfield praised the mental toughness of this Tampa Bay squad that now has three comeback wins in three weeks, leading to the franchise’s first 3-0 start in 20 years.

“It’s much of the same,” Mayfield said. “Resilient group. We stick together and just, the whole team, when one phase of it is a little bit down, the other’s got to pick it up and be there for you. That’s what this team is all about. We support each other no matter what. It’s a resilient, mentally tough group.”

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield can praise the group’s resiliency and mental toughness all he wants. That’s what he’s supposed to do as the team’s quarterback and captain, right? And he’s not wrong about the makeup of this team. But what he won’t necessarily say is that the resilience and mental toughness of this group start with him.

Those traits were integral to Baker Mayfield’s story long before he put on the Bucs’ white and orange throwback uniform Sunday afternoon. Resilient and mentally tough. That’s who he’s always been.

Mayfield is a former walk-on. He was never supposed to be a starting quarterback in the Big 12. He was never supposed to lead Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff. And he certainly wasn’t supposed to be a Heisman Trophy winner or the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. But the resilient, mentally tough Baker Mayfield became all of those things.

When Mayfield was cast aside in favor of Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, traded to Carolina and eventually waived only months into his tenure there, he wasn’t supposed to be a starting quarterback in the NFL again, especially not on a playoff team. Yet, he fought his way back. The way he led the Rams to a comeback win on Thursday Night Football late in the 2023 season only days after joining the team? Only Baker Mayfield does something like that.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Going from Browns castoff to Tom Brady’s successor in Tampa Bay? Only Baker Mayfield does something like that. And he hasn’t just been “the guy who followed Brady” for the Bucs. He has 75 passing touchdowns in 37 games since coming to Tampa, and he’s helped the team continue the winning ways that began under Brady.

Mayfield has been so much more than Brady’s successor in Tampa. He has become the franchise quarterback he was never supposed to be all those years ago when he was a walk-on quarterback. His resiliency and mental toughness have led to him to this point, and they’ll only continue to fuel his story as he looks to lead the Bucs to a championship and bring Lombardi Trophy No. 3 back to the city.

Baker Mayfield Is The Perfect Leader For This Battle-Tested Bucs Team

For all the ways he has overcome the odds throughout his journey, Baker Mayfield is the perfect player and person to lead this Bucs team through the challenges it has already faced in 2025, as well as those the group will continue to face.

Tampa Bay’s offensive line has been without All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs for the first three games of this season. Right tackle Luke Goedeke reaggravated a foot injury early in Week 2 and is now on injured reserve, though he will return this season. Right guard Cody Mauch suffered a knee injury in Week 2, landing him on injured reserve as well. And he won’t return in 2025.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. has also been sidelined for the start of this season, as has wide receiver Jalen McMillan. The Bucs defense lost defensive tackle Calijah Kancey for the rest of the regular season due to a torn pec, too.

All of that may matter at some point. But thanks in large part to Baker Mayfield, it hasn’t yet. Strong play from the Buccaneer defense has helped a great deal. But the late-game heroics from Mayfield and the offense have this team at 3-0 despite all of the missing pieces and the patched-together offensive line.

Bucs LG Luke Haggard, C Ben Bredeson, QB Baker Mayfield and RG Elijah Klein – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

When the Bucs were once again up against it Sunday afternoon after a blocked field goal put them behind with 1:49 to go, there was no panic. Why? Because Mayfield and the offense had been in this spot before.

In Week 1, Mayfield led a five-play, 63-yard drive that ended with the go-ahead touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka with 59 seconds to go. In Week 2, it was an 11-play, 80-yard drive that included a 15-yard scramble by Mayfield on 4th & 10 and ended with the game-winning touchdown with 6 seconds to go.

So, on Sunday, why panic? The Bucs needed a field goal to win the game, and Mayfield led the offense right down the field inside the final two minutes to set up Chase McLaughlin for the game-winner as time expired.

Rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who had the game-winning touchdown catch in Week 1 and a key 28-yard catch on Sunday’s game-winning drive, said it best: Mayfield is a natural born leader.

“We see it every single day in practice,” Egbuka said after Sunday’s game. “He’s a natural born leader – someone who is willing to die on the field before giving up or shutting down. I think it’s pretty special to have someone like that at the helm of your offense and at the helm of your team, so we’re in good hands.”

With the late comeback win over the Jets on Sunday afternoon, the Bucs are the first team in NFL history with three game-winning scores in the final minute of the fourth quarter in the first three games of a season.

Again, only Baker Mayfield does that… Literally. He’s the only one who has ever done it.

That’s why, despite all of the injuries, the Bucs are in a great spot. Because Wirfs, Goedeke, Godwin and McMillan are on their way back and will return at different points. And when they get back, the team will have already been through – and passed – plenty of tests. Because of the resiliency and the mental toughness of its leader.

The Bucs really are in good hands.