After reuniting with former standout Shaq Barrett, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Panthers without Cade Otton. However, no worries as Baker Mayfield set another career high during a near-perfect half of football.

Mayfield set a career high in passing yards, coming on the heels of the same feat last season. Mayfield set a career high for passing touchdowns earlier this year.

In a very impressive performance, the Buccaneers signal-caller completed 16 of 20 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Mayfield connected on his first nine passes of the game.

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield turning it loose

It’s clear the Cleveland Browns whiffed badly in the 2018 NFL Draft, but maybe it hasn’t turned out quite as horrible as it looked for years. The Browns could have drafted Josh Allen with that No. 1 pick overall, but instead grabbed the boisterous star out of Oklahoma.

After finishing second in the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, Mayfield couldn’t make it work with the Browns. In his second season, he had 22 touchdown passes with a terrible total of 21 interceptions.

Eventually the Browns looked a different direction, Mayfield bounced around from Carolina and the Rams before landing in Tampa Bay. Last year, Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

This season, he entered Sunday’s game with 3,920 yards combined with 34 touchdowns and 15 picks.

His tremendous season doesn’t make CBS Sports look very good.

Before the season, NFL writer Jared Dubin wrote: “Similar to the way Geno Smith took a step backward last season after Canales left for Tampa, I think Mayfield could do the same now that the former Buccaneers OC is in Carolina.”

Garrett Podell added, “With offensive coordinator Dave Canales now in Carolina as the Panthers new head coach, Mayfield takes a slight step back under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen despite their brief established relationship from their time together with the 2022 Los Angeles Rams.”

With two full seasons of standout performances under his belt, it’s time for people to recognize Mayfield as having arrived as a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. He has become the franchise guy for the Buccaneers.

What remains to be seen is whether can lead a team to postseason success. For 2024, the Buccaneers still have work to do to reach the postseason.