Bucs’ Baker Mayfield runs away from Lions except for Aidan Hutchinson

DETROIT — The call came in from offensive coordinator Liam Coen to Baker Mayfield. The Bucs quarterback recalled it following Sunday’s 20-16 win over the Lions with a crooked grin.

Then Mayfield was reminded that his 11-yard scramble for the game-winning touchdown on a quarterback draw late in the third quarter was the longest scoring run of his career.

“It is? Eleven yards?” he said. “That’s so sad. I’m not looking to run first by any means. But the play is called, and I try to make it work. I wasn’t expecting to get in the end zone from that far out, but made a couple guys miss and got into the end zone.”

One play earlier, in a town where Barry Sanders broke ankles for a living, Mayfield dropped back to pass, then took off scrambling, juking linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez out of his cleats for another 11-yard gain.

It was no surprise Mayfield finished as the Bucs’ leading rusher, with 34 yards and a TD on five attempts.

The truth is that Mayfield ran for his life Sunday at Ford Field. Playing without right tackle Luke Goedeke, who was out with a concussion, the Bucs could not block Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

The former Michigan star sacked Mayfield 4½ times, including three times in the first quarter alone.

Tampa Bay went into the game knowing it would need to help backup right tackle Justin Skule, who had started 12 games in two seasons with the 49ers.

But if Coen had a plan, it didn’t materialize until Hutchinson had completed his first-quarter sack trick. Until then, Skule was left pretty much one-on-one. The Bucs eventually sent their running backs to chip block on Hutchinson and even lined a tight end or two to Skule’s right.

But nothing seemed to slow Hutchinson.

“Skule went in there and battled his ass off,” Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “Two of them were off twist games; that’s hard. A couple of them, you have to go back and watch the tape. He had him at 11 and 12 yards. That’s controlling what you can control. I think they ran a couple games (stunts) in the middle. But it’s hard. Hutchinson is damn good.

“I don’t think (Skule) got beat clean. He went in there and fought. I know that stats won’t be in Skule’s favor, but he had him at 12 yards a couple times. I’m proud of how he fought.”

Mayfield didn’t have much time to throw in rhythm. He completed only 12 passes for 185 yards, seven of them to Chris Godwin.

“Aidan Hutchinson has no off switch,” Mayfield said. “He’s never stopping. For Justin Skule, I would tell him to keep his head up. That’s a tough matchup to come in there. Our tight ends did a ton of dirty work today. A lot of chips. A lot of protection. Trying to make plays when we needed them. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but it’s a win and we’ll take it.”

Think about what Mayfield’s touchdown run meant. The Lions had just taken a 16-13 lead on David Montgomery’s 1-yard run. Then Mayfield drove the Bucs 70 yards in six plays to retake the lead.

“This guy, every week, he’s a dog,” Wirfs said of Mayfield. “The draw was big-time. I was like, ‘Get in there!’”

While the Bucs don’t want Mayfield to get hurt running the football, they believe he’s smart enough to protect himself.

“He had the wherewithal,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He knows when to get down. He knows when the pocket is clean for him to throw and when to run. You’ve got to have a feel for that. He has a great feel for that,and that’s part of his game. It helps the offense be better, and we like it.”

After the game, Mayfield appeared exhausted but relieved.

“Not a weight lifted off my shoulders, but you think about the game-planning,” he said. “All the work you put in during the week and the offseason. The guys bought in and really helped us out here today, and the improvement our young guys made throughout the offseason to get to these big moments and getting big results. It took all three phases to get to this point, and that’s pure joy to realize this was a team victory.”

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