Buccaneers' Todd Bowles explains how Baker Mayfield has reached 'another level' amid MVP chatter

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is working with his third offensive coordinator in three seasons with the organization after Liam Coen left the Buccaneers to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars last winter. That said, Mayfield clearly grew comfortable with current OC Josh Grizzard when Grizzard was Tampa Bay's pass game coordinator under Coen. 

Mayfield passed for 256 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions to guide the Buccaneers to a 30-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers that improved Tampa Bay to 5-1 on Sunday. Following that result, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles spoke with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about where Mayfield is today compared to where the signal-caller was roughly 12 months ago.

Baker Mayfield's "maturity level" has improved with Buccaneers

"Being in the same offense two years in a row, he really makes more suggestions and can check into plays to get us into the right play on his own than he has in the past," Bowles said about Mayfield. "So the maturity level from a play-calling standpoint has really taken him into another level. And he wants to be great that way. I think he’s embraced that challenge and he’s showing it every week."

As Kevin Patra of the NFL's website mentioned, Mayfield was without key receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan before rookie and temporary WR1 Emeka Egbuka went down with a hamstring injury on Sunday. Mayfield responded to such setbacks by making a pair of highlight-reel plays in the game's third quarter, the second of which was a 45-yard touchdown pass to 2025 seventh-round draft choice Tez Johnson. According to Breer, Johnson adjusted his route based on the coverage before Mayfield released his best pass of the afternoon: