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Baker Mayfield<\/a>\u00a0sat on the bench late in the fourth quarter, hoping his team would have another chance to extend their season.<\/p>\n The quarterback\u2019s fourth-quarter fumble led to a touchdown that gave the Commanders a short-lived lead.<\/p>\n The Buccaneers could only muster a field goal to tie the game after that. That set the stage for the Commanders to have the final possession of regulation.<\/p>\n Zane Gonzalez\u2019s third field goal, a 37-yarder, doinked off the right upright as time expired, and gave Washington a 23-20 victory in the wild-card round Sunday night.<\/p>\n It left Baker Mayfield and others pondering what might have happened if not for that costly fumble.<\/p>\n The agony of defeat for Mayfield likely felt a bit harsher as that one moment likely changed the entire outcome of the game.<\/p>\n After the game, Baker Mayfield knew just who to blame: Himself.<\/p>\n \u201cThat comes back to me, just timing it up correctly,\u201d Mayfield said. \u201cFirst one all year that it happened on. So obviously the timing of it not great, being backed up. Defense had done a hell of a job getting us the ball, another fourth-down stop and yeah, unfortunate, but that falls on me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The veteran also spoke glowingly about his team before circling back to his own mistakes on Sunday night.<\/p>\n Baker Mayfield took the blame for the fumble today and didn\u2019t mince words when he said that it \u201cabsolutely sucks\u201d. But then you\u2019ll hear him talk about how proud he is of this team and the way guys stepped up. I asked if he thought he could show that kindness to himself\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/eRCsFjnMXV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n