Baker Mayfield 2023 NFL Props: Will He Start Next Season?

In the span of four days in the NFL this week, two home teams rallied from a 16-3 deficit with about three minutes remaining to win 17-16.

The first was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocking the New Orleans Saints on Monday to close Week 13. OK, that’s somewhat understandable because the Bucs have the greatest QB in NFL history, Tom Brady, under center – although it was the biggest fourth-quarter rally of his Hall of Fame career.

To kick off Week 14 on Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams stunned the Las Vegas Raiders in the

Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) plays against the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

same fashion. What made that comeback even more stunning was it being engineered by Baker Mayfield, who had been released by the atrocious Carolina Panthers on Monday and signed the Rams on Tuesday. The team sent him a playbook immediately to get him ready to potentially play Thursday. The former No. 1 overall pick didn’t start but quickly replaced John Wolford.

Mayfield playing two days after joining the team was the shortest amount of time spent with a new club before playing quarterback since at least 1995, and it ended with his eighth game-winning drive. That drive started at the Rams’ 2-yard line with 1:45 left and ended with a Mayfield 23-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson with 10 seconds remaining and then the winning PAT. It was the first time in 45 seasons that a team had a game-winning touchdown drive start with under two minutes and go 98 yards.

Mayfield is 0-22 in his career as a starting quarterback when trailing by at least 13 points but is now 2-1 in the same situation coming off the bench: His NFL debut with Cleveland and his Rams debut. Mayfield is set for free agency this winter, but could he be the long-term answer in Los Angeles or somewhere else? In regards to staying with the Rams, that likely depends on the health of Matthew Stafford – if he wasn’t out for the season, Mayfield surely wouldn’t have been claimed by LA.

That Mayfield starts Week 1 of the 2023 season for any team is +400 with no at -700.

McDaniels Now In Trouble?

The Raiders had won three straight entering Thursday’s game to get to 5-7 and had semi-realistic wild-card hopes with a very manageable schedule remaining. Those hopes are surely dashed now.

Amazingly, it was the fourth time this season that Las Vegas lost a game it led by at least 13 points (also to Cardinals, Titans and Jaguars). The Raiders are the fourth team to lose four games in a season after leading by 13 or more, joining the 1998 Colts, 1996 Jets and 1982 Rams.

Could that crushing loss lead owner Mark Davis to reconsider the future of Coach Josh McDaniels? Before the three-game winning streak, Davis said McDaniels was his long-term guy. That McDaniels is fired before Week 1 of the 2023 season is +400 with no at -700.