Jan 12, 2025 11:21 pm: Mayfield completed 15 of 18 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed seven times for 23 yards in the Buccaneers' 23-20 wild-card loss to the Commanders on Sunday night. He also lost a fumble.
Analysis: Mayfield was nearly perfect in every sense, even finishing the game with a 146.5 quarterback rating. However, his one error was critical, as his early fourth-quarter fumble on an attempted handoff was recovered by the Commanders' Bobby Wagner at the Buccaneers' 13-yard line and was followed by a go-ahead touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels to Terry McLaurin four plays later. While Mayfield would drive Tampa Bay down 61 yards over eight plays to knot the game up at 20-20, the veteran signal-caller never got another opportunity with the ball. The disappointing finish to the season aside, Mayfield counts the 2024 campaign as his best yet as a pro, as he finished with career highs in completions (407), pass attempts (570), completion percentage (71.4), passing yards (4,500), touchdown passes (41) and rushing yards (378) across 17 regular-season games. Mayfield also tied a career high with three rushing scores, and about the only blemish on his season stat line was the second-highest interception tally of his career (16). Mayfield remains under contract with the Buccaneers through the 2026 season.