{"id":403566,"date":"2026-09-18T13:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403566\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T13:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:30:10","slug":"browns-week-2-scouting-baker-mayfield-the-tampa-bay-buccaneers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403566\/","title":{"rendered":"Browns Week 2: Scouting Baker Mayfield, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It\u2019s an argument that some can make, but last Sunday in their loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team has some questions that need to be answered.<\/p>\n<p>Baker Mayfield gets paid\u2026 then\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Quarterback Baker Mayfield went through a contract dispute throughout the offseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until it was eventually settled and he was able to get a new deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">As far as how Mayfield looked on Sunday, it was why Tampa was hesitant to give him max money. Despite not throwing any interceptions, Mayfield fumbled the ball three times and lost all three. Whether it was Mayfield looking ahead to this game (for reasons that are personal), despite the good moments, he had the lack of ball security really put the Buccaneers behind the 8-ball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It would be disingenuous to say that this game isn\u2019t personal for Mayfield. In his eyes, the Cleveland Browns essentially gave up on him. The reality is the Browns wanted to upgrade at the quarterback position; Mayfield was upset and reacted immaturely, and the team replaced him with the person who fans want the team to get rid of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">In Week 1, Tampa\u2019s quarterback was both the reason they were in the game and the reason they ended up losing. Which Mayfield will Cleveland\u2019s defense see on Sunday?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">After re-watching the Bucs-Bengals All-22, it\u2019s fair to say that this team could\u2019ve won against the Bengals. If Mayfield didn\u2019t turn the ball over as much as he did, the team could\u2019ve won. The receiver room looks different as wide receiver Mike Evans is now in the Bay Area with the San Francisco 49ers. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is the top WR on the team, and veteran Chris Godwin is the reliable veteran in the room. On the offensive line, Tristan Wirfs is one of the best tackles in the league.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Defensively, the unit looks different but should be improved. Rookie Reuben Bain Jr. was considered the top defensive end in his draft class, and rookie Josiah Trotter seems to be a future Pro Bowler. Overall, this team is talented, but it\u2019s hard to say if this team is better than the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n<p>Is head coach Todd Bowles coaching for his job?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It\u2019s a fair question to ask. Bowles has been with the Buccaneers for a long time, and the team has routinely been a playoff team with him at the helm. However, last season the team stumbled down the stretch and showed cracks in the foundation that Bowles has maintained. It\u2019s fair to say that Tampa Bay has plateaued with Bowles. Good team in a weak division but hasn\u2019t shown the ability to make a deep playoff run. The Bucs haven\u2019t advanced past the divisional round since the year they won the Super Bowl. If the Buccaneers miss the postseason again or face an early exit, it\u2019s fair to say that the Buccaneers will be searching for a new head coach in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">What do you think about this Bucs team heading into their matchup with the Browns in Week 2?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s an argument that some can make, but last Sunday in their loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[160526,160527,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-403566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-cleveland-browns-analysis","tag-cleveland-browns-schedule","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}