Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers dropped their third game in four tries this season, putting up an uninspired performance in a 25-16 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Despite holding a 10-3 lead at the half, Carolina’s offense couldn’t get it going. Making his fourth start as a member of the team, Mayfield completed 22-of-36 passes for 197 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble and averaged a mere 5.5 yards per attempt.
Following the game, embattled Panthers head coach Matt Rhule would not commit to Mayfield being their starting quarterback Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers and their elite-level defense.
“I’m going to refrain from anything big picture until tomorrow. At the end of the day, I’m on the headset, I see the things, I know that it’s never just one person here, one person there, it’s a lot of different things, so I’ll try to give you a really well thought-out answer after watching tapes. All that being said, I believe that we can play better than that. I just feel like we have to expect more from all of us as an offense, and it starts with me first.”
Carolina Panthers’ Matt Rhule on whether he’s considering benching Baker Mayfield, via NFL.com.
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Carolina Panthers QB options are limited amid Baker Mayfield struggles
Rookie third-round pick Matt Corral suffered a Lisfranc injury during the exhibition slate and is out for the entire 2022 NFL season. Last year’s starter, Sam Darnold, suffered high-ankle sprain during the summer. He was placed on injured reserve to open the season and is actually eligible to re-join the active roster this week. It remains to be seen if Darnold will be ready. We’ll have updates throughout the week.
As of right now, veteran journeyman P.J. Walker is the only other active QB on the Panthers’ roster outside of Mayfield. The team also has Jacob Eason on its practice squad.
For now, it’s rather clear that Mayfield isn’t even a short-term option for the now 1-3 Panthers as Rhule attempts to save his job moving forward.
- Baker Mayfield stats (2022): 55% completion, 747 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT, 6 fumbles, 75.0 QB rating
It doesn’t get much easier this coming Sunday for Mayfield and the Panthers. If he does start, the former No. 1 pick will be taking on a 49ers defense that is yielding 12.3 points per game and a 74.2 opposing QB rating.