Baker Mayfield leads underdog Bucs to surprising playoff win - ESPN

TAMPA — Battling rib and ankle injuries, Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 in the wild-card round, securing the Buccaneers' largest playoff win since their 27-point Super Bowl XXXVII victory, despite being 3.5-point home underdogs Monday night.

«There's something about whether it's you're an underdog or [on] a road game, just having your backs against the wall and knowing it's just your team versus everybody else when you're counted out,» Mayfield said. «It's always fun to be in that role. Obviously I'm pretty comfortable in it, but our team has completely embraced that throughout the year.»

On top of that, he was fighting a rib injury sustained two weeks ago in a loss to the New Orleans Saints, and then an ankle injury he suffered at Carolina last week. Mayfield flew in his personal physiotherapist twice this week to help him work through the injuries, which limited his practice time.

«He gutted it out,» Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. «I mean, if you looked at him during the week — he was limping around, he wasn't practicing, he was getting a little better each day — hopefully they didn't hit him too much. I know they got some shots on him and they got what, four sacks? So he came back from that, he stayed with the plan, he never flinched, and he made play after play after play, and that says a whole lot about him.»

Despite six drops from his receiving targets in the first half alone, including three from tight end Cade Otton, Mayfield kept the energy positive and encouraging on the sideline.

«He was sharp. I mean, the whole game he was sharp.… They dropped some passes, but he kept coming back, he kept going to them,» Bowles said.

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