Baker

Mayfield

Robinson joined Atlanta two years ago when the team hired Raheem Morris as their head coach. He had previously worked under Sean McVay for five years, working his way up to pass game coordinator for the final two. Robinson started off strong, getting Atlanta to 13th in points scored despite Kirk Cousins struggling in his first year as a Falcon. The switch to Michael Penix in 2025 didn’t go as planned and the team cratered to 24th in scoring. The hope for Baker Mayfield and company will be that Robinson was simply dealt a bad hand in Atlanta. The hiring bodes particularly well for Bucky Irving. Atlanta ranked top-10 in rushing yards in both of Robinson’s seasons with the team.

Mayfield threw one atrocious interception that led to a Panthers’ touchdown, but outside of that avoided mistakes. The 30-year-old signal-caller’s touchdown pass came to Cade Otton on Tampa Bay’s first drive in the must-win game. Mayfield will need a Saints’ win over the Falcons to move on to the postseason, but he did enough to keep the Bucs alive for at least one more day.

Mayfield practiced fully on Thursday and Friday while nursing injuries in his knee and throwing shoulder. The Buccaneers have a chance to make the playoffs, though they require a loss from the Falcons in order to do so. Mayfield is borderline QB1/2 for Week 18.

Mayfield is dealing with an injury in his throwing shoulder. The Buccaneers’ quarterback regularly plays through injuries, though. We expect him to be on the field when his team takes on the Panthers in Week 18, though he can only be viewed as a borderline QB1/2.

Mayfield has been listed with a left shoulder injury previously, but pops up here with a right shoulder listing from the Buccaneers. We don’t doubt that Mayfield will play. We also don’t doubt that he’s clearly playing through injury at this point, as he has struggled since leaving Tampa’s Week 12 game against the Rams at halftime. Over his past five appearances he has just a 63 percent completion rate, 216.8 yards per game, and seven touchdowns against five interceptions.

Mayfield and the Buccaneers offense struggled once again, failing to finish key drives with touchdowns. They had a solid first quarter drive that was capped off by a Mayfield pass to Chris Godwin for a five-yard score. But Mayfield threw an interception deep in the second quarter to stall a Bucs drive, threw an interception in the red zone to stall another drive in the fourth, and ended the next drive with a strip sack. Mayfield finally capitalized with a 59-yard pass to Godwin late in the fourth quarter to start a drive that ended with a Mike Evans score. However, it was too late and the three turnovers were too much to overcome for the Bucs. Mayfield has taken a massive step back the second half of the season, playing through various ailments and with an offense that just recently got fully healthy. He finishes the fantasy season as a QB2 and will still have a chance to win the division in Week 18 against the Panthers.

The Buccaneers offense finally has a fully healthy receiving corps, but still struggled to pass downfield against the Panthers. Mayfield’s longest pass was 13 yards before connecting with Emeka Egbuka for a 40-yard pass in the fourth quarter. He threw a one-yard goal-line fade to Mike Evans for the first Bucs score and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt for the game. The rushing production came off scramble plays that he took several yards downfield. Mayfield peppered the middle of field in the fourth quarter two-minute drill, but capped it off by missing Mike Evans to throw an interception to end the game. The Bucs have struggled offensively most of the second half of the season and now lose control of first place in the NFC South. Mayfield has fallen to the fantasy QB2 range for Week 17’s matchup against the Dolphins.

Mayfield had the majority of his playmakers available for the first time all year, and of course, his first touchdown pass went to Devin Culp. The second went to Chris Godwin to extend the Bucs’ lead to 28-14, but he threw an egregious interception that set up an Atlanta score, and there were several more questionable decisions — and less-than-spectacular throws — that saw Tampa Bay drop another close contest. Mayfield remains a QB1, but the Panthers are a much tougher test than anticipated.

Evans is practicing this week and — barring a setback — should suit up Thursday night against Atlanta. Evans over the season’s first three weeks led the Bucs offense with a 41 percent air yards share and a 27 percent target share. His return to the Tampa lineup could limit Emeka Egbuka’s opportunities, though the rookie should remain in most 12-team lineups against the Falcons. Evans needs to be started in Week 15.

Mayfield continues to be listed with the same left shoulder injury he has played through each of the last two weeks. We’ll assume he’s good to go for Thursday night’s game against the Falcons unless we hear otherwise.