Shanahan hails Bucs QB Mayfield as ‘stud’ before Week 10 game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers realize they’ll have plenty on their plate against quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, especially, is weary of the threats the 6-foot-1 signal-caller will pose Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
“I think Baker’s a stud,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday. “I thought he was at the top of his game last year, playing really well. This year, I think he’s the same, if not better. … He’s playing at such a high level right now.”
Despite the Buccaneers’ 4-5 record and banged-up status, Mayfield — who didn’t practice Wednesday because of a toe injury — has kept Tampa Bay afloat. He leads the league with 23 touchdown passes and is second with 2,389 passing yards behind the Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith, who has 2,560.
Mayfield has been elite despite Tampa Bay’s playbook being limited. He won’t have it any easier, as the Buccaneers won’t have star wide receivers Mike Evans — at least until Week 13 — and Chris Godwin — for the rest of the 2024 NFL season — against the 49ers.
However, Shanahan knows that Mayfield can carry a team when he’s dialed in.
“He’s one of the main reasons they were a couple of plays away from playing us in the [2023] NFC Championship [Game] last year,” Shanahan said of Mayfield. “We were real worried about them going into that game. He just got hotter as the whole year went.”
Last season, the Buccaneers finished 9-8 and were defeated by the Detroit Lions, 20-6, in the NFC divisional playoff round. San Francisco ultimately defeated Detroit at Levi’s Stadium to advance to Super Bowl LVIII, avoiding Mayfield.
Mayfield, who finished 2023 ninth in passing yards with 4,044 and sixth in passing touchdowns with 28, has helped his franchise transition after Tom Brady officially retired toward the end of the 2022 season. And even with a sub-.500 record and minimal stars, the NFC South is open for some Mayfield Magic, as the 6-3 Atlanta Falcons lead the weak division.
The seven-year veteran is coming off an overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, in which Mayfield finished 23-for-31 with 200 yards and two scores; he’ll be eager to snap Tampa Bay’s three-game losing streak by a margin by 21 points.
Facing Tampa Bay probably won’t be any walk in the park for San Francisco. Good thing for the 49ers, Shanahan has his eyes on Mayfield.
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