Though the 2025 NFL season is simply six weeks previous, there’s a clear front-runner beginning to emerge within the league’s MVP race. It simply won’t be the participant anyone would have put on the prime of the listing when the season started.
It’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, and he delivered an enormous assertion in his favor on Sunday in a 30-19 win over the San Francisco 49ers. It improves the Buccaneers to 5-1, retains them on prime of the NFC South and continues to spotlight what a game-changer he has been for the franchise since becoming a member of it previous to the 2023 season.
Baker Mayfield’s early MVP assertion
In the event you simply regarded on the field rating of Sunday’s recreation, there’s nothing overly dominant about Mayfield’s efficiency. He completed the day 17-of-23 passing for 256 yards (11.1 yards per cross try) and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. Stable. Skilled. Environment friendly. He did what he wanted to do.
However what makes it so spectacular, and such an enormous assertion, is that he did it with an especially depleted extensive receiver unit. He entered the day with out Mike Evans, after which misplaced rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka to an harm through the recreation. And he nonetheless delivered an enormous efficiency in opposition to a great 49ers group that entered the day with an identical 4-1 file.
That alone was vital. The opposite a part of his efficiency that stood out was a jaw-dropping sequence of performs within the third quarter that helped Tampa Bay take management of the sport.
With the Buccaneers clinging to a one-point lead and dealing with a vital Third-and 14, Mayfield did all of it himself with a surprising scramble to transform for a primary down.
