Twitter stunned as Mayfield leads comeback win 2 days after joining Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Baker Mayfield was released by the Carolina Panthers on Monday.
Three days later, he led an improbable comeback victory in primetime.
In Mayfield’s Rams debut, Los Angeles erased a 13-point deficit in the final three-plus minutes to stun the Las Vegas Raiders 17-16 at SoFi Stadium on Thursday Night Football.
After being claimed off waivers by Los Angeles on Tuesday, Mayfield didn’t start versus Las Vegas. John Wolford, who’s dealing with a neck injury, played the opening offensive series without attempting a pass before being pulled for Mayfield.
The former No. 1 overall pick led a field goal drive on his first series, but the Rams then went the next five possessions without scoring. After Las Vegas extended its lead to 16-3 on a field goal with 12:20 remaining in regulation, Mayfield and Co. began to work their late-game magic.
The Rams ripped off a 17-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard Cam Akers rushing touchdown to make it a 16-10 game with 3:19 left. Since so much time had been burned on the TD drive, the Rams needed to get the ball back quickly and they did just that by forcing a three-and-out.
Raiders punter AJ Cole pinned Los Angeles at its own 2-yard line with 1:45 left and no timeouts, but that proved to be no problem for the defending Super Bowl champs.
The Rams marched 75 yards down the field in just six plays. Following a spike at the 23-yard line with 16 seconds left, Mayfield floated a perfect pass to wide receiver Van Jefferson in the end zone for the game-winning score.
A 98-yard game-winning drive inside the final two minutes from a quarterback who joined the team just over 48 hours ago. Unbelievable.
The thrilling finish sparked many different reactions on Twitter. There were big-name athletes like Darius Slay, J.J. Watt and James Harden shouting out Mayfield, people ripping the Raiders for their collapse, and others in utter disbelief over what they just witnessed.
Joining the team on Tuesday and winning a game on Thursday at the quarterback position is absolutely incredible.
There are some positions that you can plug into a new team/system somewhat easily. QB has to be by far the hardest.
Damn impressive Baker.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 9, 2022
Wow!!! I donât think people can really comprehend how hard it is to learn a playbook⦠let alone find timing with wrs! Have a day Baker Mayfield
— Calais Campbell (@CalaisCampbell) December 9, 2022
Bro baker mayfield literally put on a game jersey before a practice jersey ð WTF ð
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) December 9, 2022
ððððð BAKER MAYFIELD IS AN UNSTOPPABLE RAM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 9, 2022
The #Panthers called. They want Baker Mayfield back. Some kind of clerical error.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) December 9, 2022
âI knew Baker would lead a 98 yard drive with no timeouts to win the game after only having 48 hours to learn the offense.â
-Lebron Probably
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) December 9, 2022
that’s worse than losing to Jeff Saturday
— Guy Haberman (@GuyHaberman) December 9, 2022
Baker Mayfield just did the Tom Brady comeback on 30 hours notice, the Raiders have to move again
— Danny Heifetz (@Danny_Heifetz) December 9, 2022
Sean McVay transformed Baker Mayfield into Tom Brady in 2 days ð
— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) December 9, 2022
As some tweets alluded to, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off an eerily similar late-game comeback earlier this week. The Bucs were trailing the New Orleans Saints 16-3 on Monday Night Football before scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes, with the game-winner coming in the final seconds, to win 17-16.
Mayfield finished Thursday night 22 of 35 for 230 yards and one touchdown to help Los Angeles snap a six-game losing streak. Assuming he now has the starting role with Matthew Stafford sidelined, Mayfield’s first Rams start will come in Green Bay against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Monday Night Football.