Tyrod Taylor has been around the NFL block. He knows moral victory talk when he hears it.

He also knows a piece of sturdy foundation to build on when he sees it.

The veteran quarterback thought the Jets' come-from-behind-then-fall-from-ahead 29-27 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday was of the foundational variety.

"It's tough, it's frustrating," said Taylor, who started for the injured Justin Fields, started well, then struggled, then finished hot and nearly pulled out one of the largest comeback wins in franchise history. "As players, you put your cleats, your helmets, your shoulder pads on, you strap up day in and day out to put in the work to go out there and win, and you want to see those rewards.

"There's no moral victories, we accept that in our locker room, but we're changing in a good way. Although that was a loss today, that was a lot for us to learn from as we keep shifting where this Jets team is going."

At the start of the 90-degree day in central Florida, the Jets moved the ball effectively on their first two series to establish 3-0 and 6-3 leads on Nick Folk field goals.

Then Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles' blitzing defense came alive —"That's who he is as a defensive coach," Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said of the former Jets HC's modus operandi. "He likes to pressure." The Jets blockers had trouble picking up the five- and six-man rushes and as a result Taylor and the offense hit a midgame slump. If the QB wasn't being hit, he was being pressured en route to being sacked four times and hit 10 times on the day.

A pivotal turning point seemed to come in the final minute of the first half, when Taylor throw a long sideline ball for Garrett Wilson, only to see it picked off and returned down the sideline for a 55-yard score by CB Jamel Dean. The Bucs, in their home opener, had opened a 20-6 halftime lead and the Jets appeared to be dead in the water of Tampa Bay.

But as Taylor said about the pounding, "It's part of the game. It felt good to get hit."

And as Glenn said, he, OC Tanner Engstrand and Taylor changed up their approach in their Raymond James Stadium locker room at the break.

"We talked at halftime as far as some of the calls that we knew that Tyrod liked," Glenn said. "We wanted to make sure we got those in and we got 'em in at a more rapid pace. Just like any quarterback, once those guys get into a rhythm, they start to see the game a lot quicker, and things really slowed down for him."

The Green & White didn't have the ball a lot in the third quarter, but at the top of the final frame, trailing by 17 at 23-6, here came the Taylor that fans had seen operate in almost flawless relief in his first season-plus as the primary backup. In the final quarter he completed 12 of 15 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns to the tune of a 138.8 passer rating.

The first scoring strike was an 11-yard slant that Garrett Wilson grabbed and strode with into the end zone standing up to complete a 10-play, 80-yard drive and reduce the deficit to 23-13. Another Bucs field goal was followed by an 11-play, 73-yard march to Taylor's fourth-and-goal step-up-and-fire 4-yarder to WR Allen Lazard in the back of the end zone. Lazard's juggle prompted a booth replay review, but as referee Adrian Hill announced dramatically, "The play stands."

"I thought it was a catch in real time, to be honest," Taylor said. "I saw 27 [CB Zyon McCollum] reach in, but I never thought he bobbled it until I saw it on the Jumbotron. Even looking at that play, I still thought he secured it.

"And I want to give Allen his credit. He did a great job of adjusting on that play. It wasn't a look that we had practiced. He did a good job of breaking off once he saw me step up in the pocket and giving me a throw to finish that fourth down with a touchdown."

The Jets still needed one more score, and they got it from Will McDonald on K Chase McLaughlin's 43-yard field goal try to make it 29-20. Will McDonald IV snuffed, scooped, scooted and scored on a 50-yard blocked-FG return, the Jets' first since Corwin Brown had the block and Ray Mickens the 72-yard return vs. Oakland exactly 28 years ago in 1997.

And suddenly the Jets had the 27-26 lead with 1:49 to play. Had they held it, it would have been tied for the third-largest comeback win in franchise history. But Baker Mayfield and the Bucs drove into the red zone, McLaughlin got another shot at a decisive kick, this time unblocked from 36 yards at 0:00 for the win.

But Taylor, who could pass the QB baton back to Fields for Game 4 at Miami on Monday Night Football, saw enough to confirm his foundational thinking for the team that Glenn and his coaches and players are building.

"Oh-and-three doesn't sit well, but there's a lot of good that we've done up to this point," Taylor said. "We've just got to keep chipping away, believing in our DNA, showing up each and every week and putting our best product out, and things will take care of themselves.

"I'm proud of the guys in the locker room, the way they stick together. No one has wavered in confidence, no one has wavered in their belief in one another. It's going to change. I know we have the right guys in the locker room to do so."