Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield, Luke Goedeke share strong accusations after loss to Bears

As shared by the JoeBucsFan website, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were flagged for five false starts in their 27-24 loss at the Chicago Bears that dropped the Buccaneers to 3-6 on Sunday night. 

Following that defeat, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield was asked about the false starts and suggested that Chicago players were simulating his cadence on the field. 

Were Bears permitted to have an unfair advantage against Buccaneers?

"To be honest with you, I don’t know," Mayfield said about the reasons for Tampa Bay's false-start issues against the Bears. "The last one, I know they’re barking out the cadence, which you can’t do that. So it’s tough for the refs to call that because they’re not right there at the line of scrimmage. But yeah, I think they called that on [left tackle Tristan Wirfs], but that’s, you can’t do that." 

As Mayfield referenced, a team that simulates an offense's snap count or snap is supposed to receive a 15-yard penalty per NFL rules. However, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted that it can be "hard for the officials to know" when opposing players are yelling a cadence during a game, particularly when the visiting team has possession of the ball. 

While the Buccaneers defense forced five turnovers on Sunday night, Mayfield went 18-of-32 passing for 243 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. In the third quarter, one of his picks was returned 67 yards for a Chicago touchdown. 

Baker Mayfield wasn't the only Tampa Bay player upset after Sunday's loss

On Monday morning, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted that Buccaneers right tackle Luke Goedeke spoke with Kalyn Kahler of ESPN about recently acquired Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons following Sunday's matchup. 

"I mean, you’re holding me on one, you came right at my head," Goedeke said about Simmons. "I mean, that’s always fun. He’s known for it on pass pro, just holding the tackle so that the (defensive end) can run free, so I got that twice. So that’s always a good one. But, yeah, just kind of going back and forth. I mean, respect the guy, but some of the stuff he can really take out of his game. It’s just kind of old, to be honest." 

Goedeke insisted that he "told the refs multiple times" about Simmons' alleged antics and that "nothing happens," so "nothing changes." It remains to be seen whether or not that will remain the case when the 7-2 Bears come off their bye week with a home game against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 22. 

The 3-5 Saints host the 3-5 Carolina Panthers on Nov. 15.