Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is one of the NFL’s true gamers — he’ll do anything to win, and according to Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, that might involve a little bit of embellishment from time to time.
The Buccaneers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 23-20 in Week 1 to go to 1-0 and get a leg up on the division, but there was a key moment in the drive that put the Bucs ahead that Morris brought up in his press conference the following Tuesday, and his presser included an accusation of flopping toward Mayfield at the end of the game.
Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris talks with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6). / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
During a critical drive after an extended Atlanta possession that took almost nine minutes of game time (and felt like nine years in real life), Mayfield and the Buccaneers were tasked with either tying the game with a field goal or going ahead with a touchdown while down 20-17. During that drive, Mayfield threw the football away while being chased down by defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, and Orhorhoro hit him a tad late. Mayfield fell — the point of contention here — down near the sideline, and as a result, Orhorhoro was flagged for roughing the passer and gave the Buccaneers a free 15 yards.
That drive would end with Emeka Egbuka catching the go-ahead touchdown for the Bucs with 59 seconds left, and after a missed field goal from Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, Tampa Bay would win the game 23-20
Here’s the roughing the passer play in question:
When Morris was asked about that play, he (only somewhat) jokingly accused Mayfield of flopping after the hit, and he told reporters that he’d even told Mayfield as much when they met at midfield after the game on Sunday.
“Man, that was tough. That was a good flop by [Mayfield], man. That was basketball-esque. He did sell it,” Morris said during his press conference on Monday. “Ruke’s got to do a better job of completely avoiding that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and make an excuse for Ruke. You’ve got to be better. You can’t have that penalty. That was critical to put him in field goal range, all those type of things. But that was an excellent job by [Mayfield] on the flop. I told him that after the game yesterday.”
