Josh Allen is the reigning NFL MVP, while Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick of their draft class.
The two gems who entered the league in 2018 square off Sunday when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Allen was the seventh overall selection in a stellar class that included two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who went No. 32 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Mayfield fell out of favor with the Cleveland Browns after four seasons and bounced around to two other teams before reviving his career with the Buccaneers. This is his third season with Tampa Bay, where he has thrown 85 touchdown passes against 28 interceptions in 43 regular-season games.
“I love the guy. He’s awesome,” Allen said of Mayfield on Wednesday. “To see kind of how his career has progressed and the adversity that he’s fought through, and playing some really, really dang good football right now.
“I’m a big fan of his. Anytime I get to watch games, I’m watching what he does because he’s very fun to watch.”
The two signal-callers have a strong friendship and get together for offseason golf outings.
Mayfield said Allen’s 6-foot-5 height, four inches more than Mayfield’s, makes it hard to communicate with him.
“I have to walkie-talkie to him because he’s so damn tall, so I can’t really have a face-to-face conversation with him,” Mayfield said, joking. “But in Buffalo, it’s cold, it’s rainy; even though he’s 6-10, his hands are small, so he better wear his gloves.”
When Allen learned about Mayfield’s comments, he returned serve: “That’s crazy. Baker wears two gloves golfing. So, he’s that type of guy.”
The two fierce competitors won’t be doing much joking during the game.
Both teams are 6-3 and coming off losses. The Bills were whipped 30-13 by the lowly Miami Dolphins, while Tampa Bay was outclassed 28-23 by the New England Patriots.
Buffalo has lost three of its last five games, and the offense isn’t clicking. On Monday, Bills coach Sean McDermott defended the performance of offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
“Joe’s a good coach. He really is. We’ve got a really good offensive staff,” McDermott said. “They’ve had really good games. You’re going to have some games you want back, some play calls you want back.
“It’s how you respond to them, and I’m fully confident in our offensive staff, and Joe as our leader, that we will make the adjustments we need to make and move us forward.”
Allen has passed for 2,139 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions, while James Cook ranks second in the NFL with 920 rushing yards. Cook and Allen have each run for seven scores.
The Buccaneers have dropped two of their past three games and are just 3-3 after a 3-0 start.
Mayfield has thrown for 2,192 yards and 16 touchdowns and has been intercepted just twice.
Star rookie Emeka Egbuka has been a force with 40 catches for 677 yards and six touchdowns. He notched his third 100-yard outing of the season by catching six passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against New England.
“Been amazing for me to experience and learn during my rookie year,” Egbuka said. “I welcome the challenge on the biggest stage in the National Football League; that is kind of what you want. You want to be able to test yourself against the best of the best and go against the best (defensive back).”
Tampa Bay could get running back Bucky Irving (shoulder/foot) back against the Bills. He has missed the past five games and was limited in Wednesday’s walk-through. Outside linebacker Haason Reddick (ankle/knee) and guard Ben Bredeson (hamstring) sat out for the Buccaneers.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring) and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (shoulder) were out for the Bills.
Allen passed for two scores and rushed for one as Buffalo defeated visiting Tampa Bay 24-18 in 2023. Mayfield tossed two touchdowns for the Buccaneers.
Rewind back to the 2021 and 2022 seasons when Jonathan Gannon was the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. Gannon had done some impressive things in that role, with the Eagles allowing the second-fewest overall yards in that 2022 season.
The Eagles’ efforts that year were good enough on both sides of the ball that the team reached Super Bowl LVII where, as we know, they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in a classic shootout. It didn’t matter that Gannon’s unit had thrived for the majority of the season because, on the biggest stage and under the brightest of lights, he folded like a cheap lawn chair.
Eagles fans weren’t too bummed when Gannon was poached away in the offseason, as the Arizona Cardinals hired him as their next head coach. They have Gannon leaving to thank for the team bringing in Vic Fangio, who has been a huge breath of fresh air for this defense and who, when his team was back in the Super Bowl two years later, didn’t blink.
Meanwhile, Gannon has not been living up to the expectations placed on him by Cardinals fans. In three years on the job in the desert, Gannon has an underwhelming record of 15-28 and with a 3-6 record on the year right now, it’s no wonder his seat is getting warmer by the week.
Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports put Gannon second on his list of head coaches whose seats are the hottest. Vacchiano pointed out how Gannon’s had to deal with the uncertainty surrounding Kyler Murray but that might not be enough to save his job.
“His situation is certainly complicated by the Cardinals’ quarterback mess. They are financially committed to the deteriorating Kyler Murray, at least through the end of next season, though they clearly want to move on. It’s hard to tell whether that helps or hurts him. It’s a built-in excuse for his poor record (15-28 in two-plus seasons, including 3-6 this year), but the Cardinals also might want to start fresh next season with a new, young quarterback and a more offensive-minded head coach. The fact that his defense has consistently ranked in the bottom 10 of the league since he arrived certainly hasn’t helped his case to stay.”
To see Gannon struggling and likely at the end of his leash in Arizona is definitely something that will have Eagles fans applauding. Fans haven’t been fond of Gannon after he accepted the Cardinals head coaching job because they feel the interview prepping and then eventually taking the job distracted him from focusing on the task at hand, which was beating the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
While Super Bowl teams will always run the risk of losing a coordinator or two (for the Eagles, they lost both coordinators that offseason, as Indianapolis hired Shane Steichen), there’s a right way and a wrong way to handle accepting a new job. You need to do so while still respecting that your current employer and team have a job to do, and Gannon didn’t do that.
Surely, Gannon will get a chance to be a defensive coordinator somewhere else when the Cardinals pull the plug on his head coaching tenure. When he does, Eagles fans will continue to root against him.