NFL trend watch: Baker Mayfield swashbuckles as Mayo’s Pats stumble

Trend up

Baker Mayfield

The MVP race is heating up with Jared Goff and Jordan Love entering the picture, while Lamar Jackson continues his run for a third-place award after throwing five touchdowns against the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. The Tampa Bay quarterback may not have been at Jackson’s stratospheric level on Monday, though Baker Mayfield turned in another heady performance with 370 yards through the air, along with two early interceptions and three straight touchdown drives late in the game. Mayfield was at his most combative best as he expanded his credentials as Tampa’s leader, overcoming adversity of his own making and also losing receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin get injured during the match.

The 29-year-old was rewarded handsomely for a career year in 2023 with a $100 million contract extension this season, and is keeping his end of the bargain with an even better follow-up. Mayfield leads the NFL in passing touchdowns with 18, while ranking third in completion percentage at 70.5% (an increase of six percentage points from last season). Efficiency and accuracy issues have improved since his time in Cleveland – he finished 21^st in graduation rate and completions in first year with the Bucs after 28 years^e in the accuracy stakes with the Browns in 2020. Mayfield being so high in the charts now represents a hugely promising rebound.

The road to get here has been tough. Tossing the Browns of all teams on the scrap heap would cause impostor syndrome in the toughest of minds, but Mayfield has fought on. It will be fascinating to see how this atypical underdog continues to fight without Evans and Godwin in the fray.

Novice defenders

It’s easy to forget about the defensive talents starting their lives in the NFL, such is the weight of the expectations placed on the quarterbacks and receivers drafted in the first round.

Seattle took Byron Murphy II with the 16^e overall pick this year, and he has quietly exceeded expectations – when he has been on the field. With the defensive tackle healthy, they have gone 4-0 while losing the three games Murphy missed with a hamstring injury. Seattle’s run-stopping has had the biggest effect: They’ve given up 126 yards per game — limiting the opposition to just 14.3 points per game — with him and 172 yards/34.7 points per game without. He was a steady hand, making some dazzling plays of his own while drawing attention away from his teammates so they could get to work. Seattle defensive end Dre’Mont Jones was off Sunday to torment Kirk Cousins ​​with four quarterback hits, a sack and a pass deflection as Atlanta was stuck in the mud in the battle against Murphy.

At Seattle’s NFC West rivals, this year’s 19^e overall pick Jared Verse is making a name for himself with the Rams. The edge rusher generates pressure with a 27% success rate, the fourth highest in the NFL. The Raiders certainly felt Verse’s presence, as two of his attacks on the quarterback resulted in crucial turnovers. The knock on him is that he only has one sack so far. If Los Angeles can provide some guidance to their rocket, they could have an elite playmaker.

Trend down

New York Giants

“I don’t really understand the Giants thing. [Barkley] was their best player,” Bill Belichick said on the Pat McAfee show. “They could have kept him for a few million dollars more. Instead they have a security guard or someone else, I don’t know. The offensive line doesn’t look very good.” The former Giants defensive coordinator didn’t hesitate in his assessment of the poor decision-making that led to a thrashing of former hero Saquon Barkley and the Eagles en route to a 2-5 start.

It was inevitable, however, that Barkley would remind the Giants of his value, as Belichick pointed out that the worst problem facing the team is how exposed quarterback Daniel Jones has been behind a poor offensive line, shattered by the loss of left tackle Andrew Thomas for the season.

Thomas’ replacement Joshua Ezeudu, a guard, allowed two sacks and three pressures, while former seventh overall pick and, more importantly, tackle Evan Neal watched the horror show unfold from the sidelines. More than likely, Neal will face the Pittsburgh Steelers to see how effective he can be, but the omens aren’t good for whoever plays quarterback if a first-rounder isn’t seen as willing to step in immediately if his rock is injured has been hit. .

Perhaps Neal’s stock is still tanking after Jones was sacked 11 times in one game last season. It would certainly help explain why the G-Men are kicking veteran free agent DJ Humphries to the ground in an attempt to tighten things up.

Jerod Mayo

There were no expectations that New England’s head coach would immediately turn the team around in his first season with the Patriots, not with a roster that earned a top-three pick in this year’s draft. But the signs are grim that things will likely improve, even if rookie QB Drake Maye has played well enough in his two starts. The Patriots have lost six in a row with an offense that allows 14.1 points per game and a defense that allows the 2-5 Jaguars to score 22 points in one quarter.

Worse, Mayo called his team soft after the London beating, while preaching throughout his career that his style is “demanding without demeaning.” He’s right to say the team has been throwing games away — over the past five games, New England has given up 167.4 yards per game on the ground — though a better option for Mayo would certainly have been to adjust his coaching practices privately. His players may agree that they haven’t been good enough. They may also be somewhat confused and irritated going into a winnable matchup against the New York Jets. The performances against their rivals could speak volumes about how Mayo’s players feel about their head coach.