Baker Mayfield may not have made the best initial impression in his Bucs regular season debut, with the offense getting off to a frustratingly slow start. But by the end of Sunday’s 20-17 win over the Vikings, he had the NFL world talking.

That talk continued into the week, thanks in large part to his stiff-arm of Minnesota cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. during a second-half run — and the “mic’d up” audio that came with it.

That is an angry man 😡🖐️ pic.twitter.com/YWokLu0APa

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 11, 2023

That scramble had people immediately clamoring for Baker Mayfield’s inclusion on this week’s “Angry Runs” segment on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. Not only was the Bucs’ starting quarterback included in the segment on Tuesday morning, but he came away as the winner of the “Angry Runs” scepter, as awarded by GMFB’s Kyle Brandt.

THE SCEPTER RETURNS TO TAMPA BAY 😡🪄 https://t.co/NynlR05CHt

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 12, 2023

This is the second consecutive season that a Buc has won the “Angry Runs” scepter, as running back Rachaad White earned it for his impressive run against the Seahawks in Germany last November.

Baker Mayfield Has Grit, Which His Bucs Teammates Have To Love

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

As much negativity as there’s been surrounding Baker Mayfield over the last couple of years and during his various stops around the league, no one has ever been able to question the former Heisman Trophy winner’s attitude.

He plays with grit and swagger, and he showed it off on that short run with a stiff-arm of cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and his ensuing “get your weight up” message to the Vikings corner.

Even after things weren’t going so well early on, Mayfield and the Tampa Bay offense stayed the course and got the job done in a tough environment.

“Baker is gutsy,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “He’s tough. The guys stayed behind him. The great thing is, when he was having problems, he wasn’t turning it over. He was giving our defense [a rest], kept them in the game.

“He kept getting out, but he wasn’t turning the ball over. He stuck with it. He made some gutsy runs at the end, and the offensive line came through for him. The receivers showed up, and it was a great team win.”

Mayfield made a couple of gritty, big-time plays down the stretch in Tampa Bay’s win. Outside of his run that earned him the “Angry Runs” scepter, he converted a key fourth-and-1 attempt with a quarterback sneak on what would turn out to be the game-winning drive. He then had another scramble in the fourth quarter that saw him absorb some contact and pick up a key third-down conversion to keep the game-sealing drive alive.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

And finally, when the Bucs needed another first down to ice the game, Mayfield unloaded a throw to Chris Godwin near the sideline that Godwin made a fantastic catch on to move the chains and finish off Tampa Bay’s upset win in Minnesota.

The overall performance wasn’t gritty, but it didn’t have to be for Mayfield and the Bucs. In his first start in red, white and pewter, the former Browns, Panthers and Rams signal-caller laid it all out there, fought his tail off and helped his new team escape with a big win to open the new season. Now, they’ll have a chance to get to 2-0 when they return home to host the Bears.

No one knows what will come of Baker Mayfield’s tenure in Tampa Bay overall, but his performance over the final 30-32 minutes on Sunday should buy him some favor with the fan base — and it will certainly endear him to his teammates even more.