Baker Mayfield is now 7-1 against the Carolina Panthers in his NFL career.
The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback returned to the lineup after missing the past three games with a thumb injury. It was never a game as Mayfield scored an easy win over his former team in the 43-13 blowout.
While the big story is the Buccaneers moving to 2-5 and keeping their hopes of winning the NFC South alive, Mayfield's 7-1 record against his former team is noteworthy, especially since they're the reigning division champs and the current leaders. During his Buccaneers tenure, he's gone 6-1 against the Panthers, with the lone loss coming in their first matchup last season.
Tampa Bay has won the division in two of Mayfield's three full seasons as the starting quarterback,
including a win in last year's regular-season finale with the division title on the line (Tampa Bay lost the division on a tiebreaker).
Mayfield had a brief tenure with the Panthers during the 2022 season before he was released before the season ended after a 1-5 record. When asked following the game what his 7-1 record against the Panthers means to him, the star quarterback downplayed the stat.
"More so about the Bucs," Mayfield said after the game, when asked what the record means. "Found a great home. People that believe in me, people that I want to work extremely hard for, and we put the work in week in and week out, and so when it comes to division games, we got to take care of them, and this was another case of that."
The Buccaneers put together a complete effort, never trailing and rushing for 258 yards on 5.4 yards per carry. Mayfield didn't have much to do, throwing for just 64 passing yards on 11 attempts.
Mayfield posted his first win of the season after going 0-3 in the first three games. Jalon Daniels led the Buccaneers to their other victory in a win over the Dallas Cowboys.
"Didn't matter how it looked, but it's nice to see guys, the attitude, intentionality, the mental side of it," said Mayfield. "We don't change a process just because of results of one thing. We've been working on how to play together, how to come together. So to see it come together and have a win like this, the guys need to continue to build on that. We need to what the recipe is for us when it comes to the work throughout the week, and when it comes to the energy and the mindset on game day, so just got to continue that."
The Buccaneers will take on the 3-4 Atlanta Falcons at home next week as they look to inch higher in the NFC South division ladder.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Baker Mayfield's blunt statement on his 7-1 record against Panthers after blowout win
