It was this past Tuesday that former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield landed with the Los Angeles Rams on waivers from his former Carolina Panthers team.
At 3-9 on the season, there was very little reason for the Rams to claim Mayfield outside of their situation at quarterback. Matthew Stafford had been placed on injured reserve, costing him the remainder of the season. The combination of Bryce Perkins and John Wolford left a lot to be desired behind Stafford.
Within two days, Mayfield would be on the field for his new Rams team against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night.
What followed defied logic. The veteran castoff found his Rams down 16-10 with under two minutes left and the ball at Los Angeles’ two-yard line. He proceeded to lead the team down the field 98 yards, culminating in a game-winning touchdown to Van Jefferson with just 10 seconds left.
This performance has netted Mayfield the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award from the league in an astonishing turn for the embattled signal caller.
Let’s put some of this into perspective for a second. Mayfield earned the award over likely NFL MVP Jalen Hurts of the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles. He also took the top spot over a wide receiver in Justin Jefferson who gained 223 yards for his Minnesota Vikings.
But it is not like Mayfield didn’t deserve this award. Playing with mostly backups for a Rams team that had already given up on the season, he completed 5-of-7 passes for 80 yards on that final drive.
