Baker Mayfield: Sunday's win was a statement of our potential

Published October 26, 2026 08:44 AM Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said his right thumb might be a little sore after Sunday’s win over the Panthers moved the team to 2-5, but he did it with a smile because the cause of the soreness was how often he handed the ball off. The Bucs ran all over the Panthers en route to a 43-13 win, which meant Mayfield only had to throw the ball 11 times in his return from missing three games with a dislocated thumb. Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell, and Sean Tucker ran 45 times for 246 yards in the victory and Mayfield said after it was over that the Bucs need to take it as proof of what they’re capable of doing. “I think it’s a statement internally for us, not to anybody else, but for us,” Mayfield said, via the team’s website. “This is what it’s supposed to look like. No, it’s not always going to look like that, it’s the NFL, but operation-wise and when it comes to complementary football, this is what the potential for this team can have so it’s a statement within ourselves.”The Bucs’ 1-5 start made it hard to see much positive about how things will play out, but Sunday’s game was their first in the NFC South and no one has come close to running away with the division. Posting another win against the Falcons next Sunday would make their position look even better and Sunday’s performance provided reason for confidence that they can pull that off.