Last Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stormed out of the gate against the Las Vegas Raiders, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions and building a 14-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game. 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 turnovers in the second quarter and a slow start to the second half kept the Buccaneers from pulling away on what seemed like a low-stress afternoon. Mayfield completed just seven of his next 15 passes with two interceptions and was sacked four times. The Bucs’ lead was just 14-10 with five minutes left in the third period and the Raiders had the ball at Tampa Bay’s 10.

Then rookie safety Tykee Smith turned the game around with an interception at the seven-yard line. After a punt, Mayfield and the offense got the ball two more times, both scoring touchdowns. Mayfield finished the game with 295 yards, three touchdowns and a passer rating of 101.9. The Buccaneers left the Raymond James Stadium turf with a comfortable 15-point victory.

Just like the week before in Carolina, when they recovered from a very late Panthers touchdown, forced overtime and won in overtime, the Bucs showed mental toughness after a difficult stretch. Mayfield said he knew that about this team when he decided to re-sign with Tampa in 2023 after his own remarkable bounce-back season.

“It’s an incredible group,” he said. “That’s what made me want to come back here. I wanted this, simply because of the group we have, the key elements here, the culture that was created long before I arrived here. That guys are actually able to hit the reset button and say, “If I just do my job and we play for each other and together, good things will happen.” That’s really rare, but it’s that, what makes this group so special.

Mayfield indicated he doesn’t necessarily rest himself after making a mistake like an interception in the red zone. He said he was “not exactly a great example of positive self-talk.” What he can do, however, is follow his own self-flagellation with a quick press of the reset button.

“For me, it’s the mentality of, ‘The next play is the most important thing,’ and then when it comes to game situations, things that you really want to go over throughout the week,” Mayfield said. “Of course that helps with experience and time, but you cover these situations, you understand where you want the ball, where you want to do it and sometimes it’s a chaotic situation but you don’t want to… It’s just increased awareness .” – You don’t want to let the situation dictate how you feel, you just want to really pay attention to details and focus on what’s important in these moments.

“We need everyone to do their job every game, so I have to set the tone for that. If I make a bad play, it’s the next one. Let’s keep going, let’s make it happen.”

The Buccaneers only have four games left on their regular season schedule and each one is crucial as they try to maintain their slim lead over Atlanta in the NFC South. They hope to play clean, complementary football in each quarter of these four games, but the reality is that there will likely be some difficult moments here and there. Mayfield and the Buccaneers need to be able to recover quickly from these moments and make the plays they need down the stretch, and they’ve shown they can do that.