The play set up a 5-yard touchdown and that could have been the beginning of an unraveling, but Mayfield immediately countered with three straight completions on the next drive before finding wide receiver Mike Evans one-on-one against Eric Stokes for a 19-yard touchdown en route to one of Mayfield's best career performances and Tampa's third straight win.
"You [have] to have the resilience to come back," coach Todd Bowles said. "I think [Mayfield] never broke stride. He [understood] what happened on the play. They [had] a turnover, [and] they [had] a touchdown. It was early in the game, no need to get down."
Every time Packers quarterback Jordan Love landed a punch, Mayfield gave it right back, becoming just the second quarterback in NFL history behind Aaron Rodgers to deliver a perfect 158.3 passer rating at Lambeau Field. He also didn't throw his first incompletion until there was 5:48 left in the second quarter.
In turn, he not only positioned the Bucs (7-7) to be in full control of their own destiny in the NFC South -- the Bucs can win the division regardless of what others do if they win their final three games -- but he made a strong case to stick around for another season (or get a big contract elsewhere) after signing a one-year deal worth up to $8.5 million this offseason.
"I'm sure that will be an offseason conversation probably, but I love where he is at right now," Bowles said. "I loved him when he came in, not just because of the game he played [Sunday]. [He is] very smart, very tough, knows where to go with the football, very mature where he is as far as getting his reads and getting everybody in the right place. I mean, me personally, I really like where the guy is at."
He also showed that he is capable of carrying this team rather than relying on a defense that largely keyed a 3-1 start. The Bucs could have easily turned timid after that Mayfield turnover and spent the rest of the game running the ball against one of the league's weakest run defenses, but Mayfield got hot and first-year offensive coordinator Dave Canales chose to ride it out.
The week prior on the road at the Atlanta Falcons, Mayfield struggled throughout the game, completing just 48.3% of his passes. But he put together a game-winning drive that featured a third-and-10 pass from the Atlanta 47-yard line to wide receiver Chris Godwin that went for 32 yards, and an 11-yard game-winning touchdown to tight end Cade Otton that had a completion probability of just 36.5% -- his least probable completion of the entire game.
"For me, you're never out of the fight. You have to play the next play," Mayfield said. "Even though everything happened before that, and it wasn't pretty, find a way to win. That's what people remember. It's just a win on the column."
Now at .500 and having finally captured the elusive signature win of the season, the sting of November losses at the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts are starting to fade. The offense is now ascending. They're no longer stuck in a 'we're lucky to get 20-points-per-game' kind of purgatory.
"Just trying to get hot at the right time," Godwin said. "Everybody knows that in this league, it's not about who's hot in the beginning of the year. It's about who's the healthiest and who's the hottest at the end of the year. So we're trying to make sure we're gelling at the right time and put this thing together."
Wide receiver Mike Evans is continuing what could be one of his finest seasons, if not his finest, while Godwin, who's had a quiet year and seemed to lack the same chemistry with Mayfield, put up a 155-yard performance where he caught 10 of 12 targets. Running back Rachaad White and the offensive line have also managed to finally gain cohesiveness on the ground, and role players such as Otton, tight end Ko Kieft and wide receiver David Moore are stepping up.
"Since last week, it's just been our whole motto -- 'Go in and take it. Don't let anything get in the way of that. Go get it ourselves,'" Moore said. "Our coaches tell us all the time, 'It's gonna click. It's gonna click. Just trust in it. Just trust in it. As long as we trust in it, it's gonna work.' We've just been trusting in it the whole time, and it's finally starting to click for us."
On Sunday they'll host the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-6) for a Christmas Eve matchup (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS). They will host the New Orleans Saints, whom they are tied with at the top of the NFC South, on New Year's Eve.
They can still make the playoffs if they don't win the NFC South, as the Bucs are in a clump of teams vying for a wild-card spot, but playoff scenarios are something they won't have to consider if they take care of business.
"We know we have to win out to get to the playoffs," Bowles said. "That's been our mindset since we played Carolina [in Week 13], [and] that's our mindset this week, as well, against a good Jacksonville team."