Through the first two games of the season, Baker Mayfield has 474 passing yards, five touchdown tosses and a 129.1 passer rating. In leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a very encouraging 2-0 start, he’s flashed the same kind of arm talent that made him the first overall pick in the 2018 draft and a 4,000-yard Pro Bowl passer in 2023, his first season with the Buccaneers.

However, the Buccaneers might not have beaten Detroit 20-6 against the Lions on Sunday if Mayfield had not also had a talent in his legs.

Most notably, Mayfield scored the game-winning point with an impressive 11-yard touchdown run through traffic late in the third quarter. Most of his runs are scrambles, but this one was intentional, based on some defensive tendencies that Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen had picked up on during the week. Mayfield took a shotgun snap and took a quick step before planting and running straight up on first-and-10 from the Lions’ 11. He got the first five or six yards easily, but had to weave through some traffic and barrel across the line to finish off the scoring.

“Yeah, (it was) just something Liam came up with, understanding how they were covering the empty package and, yeah, (I) had a couple guys miss. I ended up cutting it back, but yeah, guys up front. It’s not an easy front to block.”

The Bucs were able to score the touchdown because Mayfield had escaped a shaky pocket on the previous snap and scrambled 11 yards on third-and-four. It was reminiscent of a similar scramble he’d made to set up a touchdown against Washington in Week 1. In both cases, Mayfield’s joy at the play was clear. It’s the kind of play that tends to get his teammates fired up, too, and while head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t necessarily want Mayfield putting himself in harm’s way often, he knows his quarterback will do whatever it takes in critical situations.

“He knows when to lay down, he knows when the pocket is clean to throw and when to run,” Bowles said. “Like I said, you’ve got to have a feel for it. He’s got a great feel for it and that’s part of his game that makes our offense better and we like that.”

That 11-yard score was the longest touchdown run of his career, and it was part of a 35-yard ground day that made him the Bucs’ leading rusher. Mayfield laughed when he heard the nugget, calling it “sad,” but he reiterated that he’s always willing to run if that’s what the situation calls for.

“You know, I definitely don’t want to run first,” he said. “But if the play call is a QB draw, I’m going to try to make it work. So, for me, like I said, I let the defense dictate where the ball goes, and if I have to make plays, my legs will do it.”

It wasn’t just the scrambles and that one designed run that made the difference for Tampa Bay’s offense. On an afternoon when Detroit’s Pro Bowl edge rusher, Aidan Hutchinson, was nearly unstoppable at times and clean pockets were scarce, Mayfield also created key plays in the passing game by escaping pressure and buying time to get the ball to an open man. He finished with 185 yards on an efficient 12-of-19 passing mark.

“(He) did a great job of using his legs and then getting open, finding Chris (Godwin) for some third down gains that allowed us to continue to have some drives,” Bowles said, “and we needed every one of them.”

Still, the touchdown run was the highlight of Mayfield’s day on the ground, and he was just as happy for Coen that his idea came to fruition at a crucial moment.

“Liam did a great job of working that out. Just understanding where we were on the field, what kind of coverage and defense they were going to call,” Mayfield said. “So he was excited about that play call. He had been talking about it all week. So it’s always fun when it comes together.”