This week will be win or go home for the Chef and his Tampa Bay Bucs.

This time of year is the part of the NFL season where fans scramble to do research on all the different ways their team can claim one of the remaining playoff spots still available. Last week, the Bucs faced a very simplistic playoff scenario—Beat the New Orleans Saints and Raymond James Stadium gets to host a playoff game. Tampa Bay lost to New Orleans and now this week, the Bucs have the same exact scenario again. A win against the Carolina Panthers would secure Tampa a spot in this year’s postseason.

If the Tampa Bay Bucs do make the playoffs, it would mark the fourth consecutive year the Bucs registered as a playoff team and their third consecutive division title.

Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images

That means Chef Mayfield has a chance to do something no other Bucs’ quarterback (not named Tom Brady) has done since 2007. A win this Sunday would make Baker ‘The Chef’ Mayfield the first quarterback (again, not named Tom Brady) to take Tampa Bay to playoffs, since Jeff Garcia led the Bucs to the postseason.

On the Bucs’ 2023 journey, Baker Mayfield hasn’t just been along for the ride. With a game left, Mayfield has already tossed 28 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. Mayfield is also likely to end the season with over 4,000 yards passing. Based on projections, Mayfield has a very good chance to make his 2023 campaign a top-five passing season in team history. Without passing for a single touchdown, in the team’s final contest, Mayfield is already tied for the fourth most in any single-season. Two of the years Mayfield ranks behind are Tom Brady’s 2020 and 2021 seasons. In terms of yardage, Mayfield has thrown for 3,907 yards thus far. 190 yards passing would get him into Tampa’s top-five. Mayfield has had 13 performances of 190 yards or better this season, only three times this year has he dipped below that mark.

The Chef and his future with the team have been major talking points for Bucs’ fans all season. A win against the Carolina Panthers would secure a playoff berth for a team that had nothing but failure as media/pundit projections would go along way towards good faith built up in the Tampa Bay Bucs’ organization and inside of team’s fanbase.

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