Last Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stormed out of the gate, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions and building a 14-0 lead in the game's first 11 minutes. Quarterback Baker Mayfield completed eight of his nine passes on those two drives, including a five-yard touchdown pass to running back Rachaad White.
Unfortunately, three second-quarter turnovers and a slow start to the second half kept the Buccaneers from pulling away in what looked like it was going to be a low-stress afternoon. Mayfield only completed seven of his next 15 passes, with two interceptions, and he was sacked four times. The Bucs lead was just 14-10 with five minutes to go in the third period and the Raiders had the ball at Tampa Bay's 10.
That's when rookie safety Tykee Smith flipped the game with an interception at the seven-yard line. After one punt, Mayfield and the offense got the ball two more times and drove for touchdowns on both of them. Mayfield finished with 295 yards, three touchdowns and a 101.9 passer rating. The Buccaneers walked off the Raymond James Stadium turf with a comfortable 15-point win.
Just as they had the week before in Carolina when they recovered from a very late Panthers' go-ahead touchdown to force overtime and win it in the extra period, the Bucs showed mental fortitude after going through a rough stretch. Mayfield said he knew that about this team when he chose to re-sign in Tampa after his own remarkable bounce-back season in 2023.
"It's an unbelievable group," he said. "That's what made me want come back here. I wanted that, just because of the group that we have, the key pieces here, the culture that's been set far before I was here. For guys to actually be able to hit the reset button and say, 'If I just do my job and we play for each other and play together, good things are going to happen.' That's really rare to have, but it's what makes this group so special."
Mayfield suggested that he's not necessarily easy on himself after making a mistake like an interception in the red zone. He said he's "not exactly a great example of positive self-talk." What he can do, however, is follow his own self-flagellation with a quick hit of the reset button.
"To me, it's the mentality of 'next play is the most important' and then when it comes down to in-the-game situations, things that you really want to go over mentally throughout the week," said Mayfield. "Obviously, that helps with experience and time, but you cover those situations, you understand where you want to get the ball, where you want to do it and sometimes it's a chaotic situation but you don't want to… It's just heightened awareness – you don't want to let the situation dictate how you're feeling but just really [pay] attention to details and get back to basics in those moments.
"We need everybody to do their job each play, so I have to be the tone setter when it comes to that. If I'm making a bad play, it's the next one. Let's move on, let's make it happen."
The Buccaneers have just four games remaining on their regular season schedule and each one is critical as they try to hold on to their slim lead over Atlanta in the NFC South. They hope to play clean, complementary football in every quarter of each of those four games, but the reality is there are likely to be some rough moments here and there. Mayfield and the Buccaneers need to be able to recover from those moments quickly and make the necessary plays down the stretch, and they have shown the ability to do exactly that.
