Baker Mayfield discusses 2023 Buccaneers saving their season at 4-7

Quarterback Baker Mayfield guided the 2023 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 3-1 regular-season start ahead of their Week 4 bye but then was unable to prevent the club from falling to 4-7.

During a Monday appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Mayfield spoke about how the Buccaneers turned things around en route to claiming the division title with a 9-8 record.

"We played Philly pretty early and they beat us pretty good, but we felt like we just weren’t doing the little things right," Mayfield said while referencing Tampa Bay's Week 3 25-11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "And that’s the biggest difference in winning and losing in this league. So we were right there , we felt like we were right there around the corner and being able to turn it and turn the season around. And so I think just the leadership in the locker room, of guys saying, ' Just do your job. Do it the best way possible and good things are going to happen.'"

After the Buccaneers dropped to 3-5 in early November, some suggested that head coach Todd Bowles should bench Mayfield in favor of 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask. Bowles instead trusted Mayfield, and the 29-year-old ultimately notched five wins from Week 13 through Week 18 before he helped his club tally an impressive 32-9 wild-card playoff victory over Philadelphia in January.

"And so I think everybody was just intentional about the details of each scheme — offense, defense, special teams — that once we figured that out and we got the first win under our belt later in the year, everybody was like, 'Ok. We have the recipe of how we’re going to have success. Let’s keep doing that,'" Mayfield added during his comments.

Mayfield's resiliency is among the reasons why individuals within the Buccaneers have routinely insisted over the past year that he was an ideal replacement for living legend Tom Brady following Brady's long-term retirement in February 2023.

While Mayfield received a new three-year contract to stay with the Buccaneers this past March, he and others in the Tampa Bay locker room may have chips on their shoulders thanks to forecasts continuing to predict that the Atlanta Falcons will claim the NFC South title for the upcoming season.

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Atlanta as the betting favorite at -145 odds to win the division. Tampa Bay was second on the list at +350, followed by the New Orleans Saints at +380.