Baker Mayfield Pulls Off the Impossible

Maybe all Baker Mayfield needed was a fresh start with a championship coach and a winning culture.

Mayfield kickstarted his career in the unlikeliest of ways on Thursday night, delivering a stirring comeback victory for the Los Angeles Rams.

Mayfield and the Rams overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Las Vegas Raiders 17-16 at SoFi Stadium in L.A.

Mayfield did it the hard way, too, driving his team 98 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.

“This is up there for — it’s just up there,” Mayfield said in his postgame interview on the Amazon Prime Video postgame show.

And he did it all after being with his new team for less than 48 hours.

Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, was placed on waivers by the Carolina Panthers on Monday, and was claimed by the Rams on Tuesday. He attended meetings and a brief walk-through on Wednesday, then played the Raiders on Thursday.

Of course, Mayfield began the season in the final year of his rookie contract with the Cleveland Browns, who picked him No. 1 in 2018 but then traded him to Carolina four years later after acquiring Deshaun Watson from Houston.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s been a wild year, not gonna say otherwise,” Mayfield said. “From being in limbo at the beginning and not knowing where it’s gonna go, to the last 48 hours here. And I’m thankful for the guys back in Carolina, my teammates. I love those guys, and it sucks having to leave. But when it works out like this, it’s for the best."

He said on the postgame show he bought a plane ticket before the Rams had even formally claimed him off waivers, boarded a flight to Los Angeles and began studying coach Sean McVay’s playbook.

Less than two days later, without the benefit of even one practice, he directed a nearly impossible comeback.

“I mean it’s just Baker Mayfield,” said Rams receiver Van Jefferson, who caught Mayfield’s game-winning TD pass with 10 seconds on the clock. “… It shows what kind of guy he is, man. I’m just glad he’s here.”

Not much was expected from Mayfield or the Rams, who came in on a six-game losing streak, while the Raiders had won three in a row. The team had to turn to Mayfield, who had just six touchdowns and six interceptions and a league-low .583 completion percentage coming in.

The Rams won the Super Bowl in February, but have suffered wave after wave of injuries in 2022, including starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp and multiple maladies in the receiver corps, the offensive line and on defense. Even three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald missed Thursday’s game.

But that didn’t matter to Mayfield, who didn’t start — backup John Wolford got the call, but was battling a sore neck and lasted just one series — but quickly came in and ultimately finished strong.

“He just came in and worked hard,” Jefferson said. “He’s only been here for a day. For him to come in here, it just shows what kid of guy he is, man. He’s just tough.

“ … He’s just confident. It was important to him.”

Mayfield hit throws of 21, 22 and 22 yards to start, but then leveled out as the Raiders stepped to a 10-0 lead.

Mayfield directed a field goal drive, then put together another nice possession before Cam Akers fumbled before half.

Mayfield engineered another effective possession in the third quarter, but a personal foul penalty led to a missed field goal.

In the fourth quarter, however, with the Raiders up 16-3, McVay went to a no-huddle offense, and Mayfield heated up.

He directed a 17-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that made it 16-10, and then, after a Raiders punt pinned the Rams at their own 2 with no timeouts and just 1:45 to play, Mayfield took his new team 98 yards in eight plays for the game-winning TD.

The tying TD was a 23-yard throw to Jefferson in the left corner of the end zone with 10 seconds left, and Matt Gay's PAT won it.

On those final two drives, Mayfield hit 16-of-20 passes for 138 yards.

Overall, Mayfield completed 22-of-35 passes for 230 yards with one touchdown and overcame four quarterback sacks. He also ran four times for 10 yards.

He credited McVay and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson with helping him cram over the last two days.

“I didn’t think it was gonna play out like this,” he said, “but I am sure happy we covered the two-minute operation, my goodness.”

Mayfield said the offensive coaching staff and his teammates were in “constant communication” with him throughout the game to help him work through things.

Mayfield said his first four seasons with the Browns, with four head coaches and multiple offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches, plus two head coaches in his short time at Carolina, actually became a benefit on Thursday night.

“Originally, I was angry about having to go through so many coaching changes and having to learn so many new things,” he said, “but that for sure helped right there. Just learned protections first and talking with those guys about the concepts that I liked, and luckily had run a lot of ‘em. But they put in good plays out there and put me in position to win.”

And Mayfield did the rest.

“It speaks to the culture of the locker room, them coming in here and still trying to compete even though the record speaks for itself,” Mayfield said. “Them just welcoming me in, competing and fighting to the very finish there. That says everything you need to know about this place.”