On Sunday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield became the first visiting player ever to record a perfect passer rating in a game at Lambeau Field. And Lambeau Field has been around for a while.
On Wednesday, the NFL celebrated Mayfield's historic performance by naming him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 15. It marks the fourth time in his career that Mayfield has earned a Player of the Week award, and he has now done it for three different teams. He also won it on the AFC side for the Cleveland Browns in Week 16 of the 2018 season and Week Seven of the 2020 campaign. Last year, after he was released by the Carolina Panthers and signed by the Los Angeles Rams, he won the NFC award in his first game with his new team.
The Buccaneers have now had a winner in each of the three Player of the Week categories this season. Punter Jake Camarda took home the special teams award in Week Two and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was the defensive choice in Week 13.
Against the Packers, Mayfield completed 22 of 28 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, compiling the aforementioned perfect passer rating of 158.3. He became just the third quarterback in Bucs history to hit the 158.3 mark in a game, joining Tom Brady and Craig Erickson. He was also the third passer, along with Buffalo's Josh Allen and San Francisco's Brock Purdy, to achieve a perfect rating in a game this season.
Mayfield's scintillating performance powered the Buccaneers to a critical 34-20 victory that kept them in the top spot in the NFC South with three games to play. Mayfield threw touchdown passes to four different players and helped five different pass-catchers exceed 40 yards. The Buccaneers gained a season-high 452 yards of offense and punted just one time. After the Bucs took a 13-10 lead into the second half, he directed three straight touchdown drives and a final possession that successfully took the last four minutes off the clock.
Mayfield's career-best outing made him just the third player in NFL history to record at least 375 passing yards, at least four touchdowns and a 158.3 passer rating in a road game, joining Nick Foles in 2013 and Ken O'Brien in 1986. His 13.6 yards per attempt is the fourth-highest mark in franchise history and the second-highest achieved by a quarterback this season. In Week 15, he led all quarterbacks in passer rating, passing yards, yards per attempt and passing first downs (tied). The Buccaneers' offense had the most net yards, passing yards and yards per attempt of any team during the week.
Mayfield is the first Buccaneer to win NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors since wide receiver Mike Evans in Week 17 of last season. He is the first Tampa Bay quarterback to do so since Tom Brady in Week Five of the 2021 campaign. He is the ninth quarterback to win the award in team history, joining a list that includes Brady, Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Freeman, Brad Johnson, Shaun King, Trent Dilfer, Vinny Testaverde and Steve DeBerg.
