Baker Mayfield had a perfect message for Buccaneers after 26-7 loss to Broncos

After a week of getting respect from national pundits who had done the opposite this offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed the siren song of praise right into a trap game.

Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos picked the Bucs apart on Sunday, cooking Todd Bowles' defense and holding one of the best offenses in football to just a single touchdown. Nothing seemed to go right, from Anthony Nelson and K.J. Britt getting cooked by Bo Nix and Jaleel McLaughlin, to Cade Otton fumbling away the Bucs' last chance at trying to get back into the game.

What didn't happen, though, was the blame game getting played after the final whistle.

It's a small victory in an otherwise atrocious loss, but the Bucs wore what happened on Sunday rather than try to pretend like it was anything other than an embarrassment.

Baker Mayfield sent the exact right message after Buccaneers humbling loss to Broncos

Leading the charge in setting the tone after the loss was Baker Mayfield, which is hardly surprising.

After the loss, Mayfield spoke with the media but didn't once try to hide from what had happened. Instead, he wore the loss and used it as a chance to let everyone know that this team isn't going to fall into the same trap twice.

"This is a good lesson for our team overall: you have to prepare like you're playing in a playoff game every week, or else this can happen. We got our asses kicked physicallity-wise, execution-wise, all over the board for us. It's a good lesson for ... the young guys who haven't seen it before," Baker said. "For it to happen this early on, I'm going to take the positives from it and take this one on the chin. There's nothing else to do besides that, and go from there.

What he does on the field is one thing, but this is another reason the Bucs paid Baker $100 million to come back this offseason. The maturity and leadership he's shown has been one of the most valuable things he's brought to Tampa Bay, and it's one of the reasons fans shouldn't be too nervous after such an abysmal loss.

Tampa Bay has fallen into these sorts of traps before, but the tricky part is pulling themselves out. For the first time in a long time, we saw that happen last year and Baker was a huge part of it. Most Bucs teams from years past don't reverse a 1-6 slump like the team last season did, but none of those other teams had Baker Mayfield leading the charge.

It's easy to jump aboard the ride when things are going good, but the poise Baker has after this sort of a loss should be seen as a massive positive. The mentality that this is loss is a humbling experience is exactly how the Bucs should be looking at it, and it's why everyone should have confidence that things will get fixed sooner than we've ever seen before.

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