Some things in life are just inevitable, immovable forces that cannot be altered in any way no matter what opposite force is exerted against them. Baker Mayfield found himself and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against such a force in Week 9 of the NFL season.
The Bucs visited the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night to play a primetime showdown against the defending champs to close out the NFL's weekly schedule. For 60 full minutes, the Bucs rose up to meet the challenge with admirable effort. They were well-coached. They were efficient. They played smart and physical and provided a worthy opponent.
The only problem was that the two teams were tied after four quarters. And when Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes met in the middle of Arrowhead for the overtime coin toss, the Bucs quarterback found himself facing one of those immovable forces: Mahomes in OT.
It's not as if this is a new thing. Everyone in the NFL knows it. Everyone outside of the NFL knows it. And the look on Baker Mayfield's face when it was clear he'd lost the coin toss says it all.
Baker Mayfield BALLED OUT. He knew they lost as soon as KC won the toss. or rules suck. #nfl pic.twitter.com/g8Lfml2Bx2
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhifer) November 5, 2024
Just like that, the game was over. Of course, the officials had to allow the game to actually play out from that point and the heroics were fun to watch on that final drive, but it was all for show. The truth is that the Chiefs won the moment that coin came up as "heads" and Mahomes got to take control from the outset of overtime.