The Packers avoided an 0-2 start with a convincing 27-10 win over the Bears last week. A stern test awaits them as they face the 2-0 Buccaneers on the road as underdogs. Green Bay fell to Tampa Bay in their last meeting on January 24, 2021 in the NFC Championship Game, 31-26.
Green Bay enter 23rd in scoring after the first two weeks and face a Buccaneers defense that is 1st in scoring defense, allowing only 6.5 points per game. Aaron Rodgers has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 429 and two touchdowns, but has been sacked seven times. In typical fashion, Rodgers has spread the ball around, with seven players with at least five receptions. Sammy Watkins[Editor’s Note: Watkins was announced to be on IR], Aaron Jones, Romeo Doubs, and AJ Dillon all have six receptions to lead the team. The Packers’ rushing attack has been excellent, averaging 157 yards per game, led by Aaron Jones with 181 yards on 20 carries. Punter Pat O’Donnell is averaging a healthy 50.2 yards on six punts with a net of 45.7.
An Uphill Battle
On the defensive side of the ball, the Packers are 7th in points allowed at 16.5 per game. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell leads the teams with 15 tackles, while Preston Smith and Rashan Gary have recorded all of the team’s four sacks. The Packers have one interception and no forced fumbles over the first two weeks. They need to win the turnover battle to have a good chance to pull off an upset.
For the Buccaneers, they are ranked 19th in scoring, led by Tom Brady, who has completed only 59 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and an interception. Mike Evans and Russell Gage has been the primary targets, with 15 of the team’s 36 receptions for 173 yards. Running back Leonard Fournette has seen the majority of the load in the backfield, rushing for 192 yards on 45 attempts. Kicker Ryan Succop has already attempted seven field goals, converting on six.
Defensively, the Buccaneers already have 10 sacks, led by Devin White’s three. Keeping Rodgers off the deck will be another key for the Packers chances at a victory. Cornerback Jamel Dean leads the Buccaneers with two interceptions. A key stat to watch is the turnover differential. Tampa Bay comes in 2nd in the NFL at +4, while the Packers are at –2.
The Buccaneers are a 1-point home favorite in this contest.
A stout defense, previewing Tampa Bay’s playmakers + special teams putting in work.
3️⃣ Things ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/GsubzpVEBQ
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 21, 2022
17 Comments
Aaron Rodgers can give you his thoughts on modern medicine, basic chemistry, and relationship advice via his book club. Actually go out and beat a contemporary like 45 year old Tom Brady? Now your talking crazy! If we’re to win today the defense and run game will have to carry the team. Much like it did against Chicago. With Watkins out, Rodgers has no choice but to throw the ball to Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson. If we get down by more than 10 early. LaFleur would be wise to bench Rodgers and go with Jordan Love. Love would throw the ball to Doubs and Watson without hesitation. While Rodgers will posture and pout when things don’t go his way.
Thank you for the dullards point of view.
.
You’re contributions are always appreciated on behalf of the mentally challenged.
***********
Just for the record….Rodgers doesn’t play against Tom Brady, Rodgers has to deal with the Bucs defense. Tom Brady might be busy on the sidelines throwing things around while having a hissy fit, but Brady doesn’t play defense.
****************
Both teams offense’s has some weapons missing, but Green Bay didn’t have many to start with.
I think Gute can confirm that.
The Packers defense may have a good day with the injuries and suspension of the Bucs wide receivers core.
The question is, will the Packers O line get steamrolled like it did the last time these teams met.
Word is Bahk will be back starting. How many snaps he gets in is another story, but if he is truly ready to go, they could use him today, but i think some rust is to be expected before he gets back to 100% effective.
.
I don’t see Rodgers having a good day against the front 7 of this dynamic Buc defense. Looks like it might be a long day for Rodgers and company.
Hard to say who our #1 receiver will be today, do i go with the usual choices of Dillon or Jones?
I’m going with Jones i guess.
But what do you think of Aaron Rodgers ?
Unless your looking for an excuse, which is often the case with Aaron Rodgers. Yosh Nijman will do just fine at LT should Bakhtiari not be able to go. Both teams have good defenses, solid running games, limited WR help, and questions on the OL. It comes down to which QB can make more plays. Sure, Rodgers could do it. But psychologically can he? That’s the real question.
Rodgers has typically played poorly against Tampa Bay. It’s the only team in the league that he has actually thrown more interceptions than TDs. Plus the defense isn’t playing anywhere near their preseason hype and the Packers play worse in the heat of Florida than southern teams play in the dead of winter in Green Bay. Brady will make heros out of his 5th stringers while Rodgers will only throw to his favorites and grumble at the first drop. I don’t see any chance the Packers win this game, even if Brady has fewer receivers than Rodgers.
Most defenses seldom blitz Brady, but in this game I would like to see the Packers bring some pressure up the middle. I hear Quay is fast. I think the Packers bring Quay a few times under the right conditions. The question is can the Packers DBs not named Alexander and Douglas stay in the same zip code as the TB receivers.
A couple of things the Packers should have learned about the TB defense:
If your going to run wide do not try to reach block White with an interior lineman. I liked what the Packers have started doing on outside runs. Seal the interior edges with your receivers/TEs and pull a couple of O-linemen to get to the outside edge. With DBs not able to cut block it makes for a tough day on DBs having to take on 300+ # O-linemen on the edge.
When you keep in a RB to pass protect you are asking for White to come on a blitz or delayed blitz. Dillion and Jones in the backfield can help get one of the two free in the pass game.
This should be a game Tonyon/TEs get some targets. Stay patient, run the ball, short passes, go deep only if or after you get the defense to respect your short pass game and run game.
O.K now I’m going to see how long it takes for this to post. 2:03 central time.
Dink, dunk, dink, dunk, dink dunk….punt……..
Still having issues commenting?
Jason, I have not received the Nonce verification failed notice recently. I do find that my comments can take 1,2,3, or 4 hours to show up. It makes it hard to carry on a discussion in the comments section. I’m not certain if others are having the same issue or if the problems are on my end.
Many times others, or my comment will show up in the recent comments, but you can’t see the full comment in the article for some time even if you try to refresh the page. As an example on your comment above I could see there was a new comment but could not see your comment in the article. Today, once I refreshed the page/article Your comment appeared. It is almost like comments go into a queue in recent comments that can take some time to show up. Then the comment can take even longer to make it to the article comments. Today my first comment showed up very quick. We will see how this comment does. 9:38 Central.
Ok, I can adjust the caching rules to refresh more frequently. It’s a balance between keeping the site fast and trying not to serve old data
A possible fix if it does it again: If you’re using Windows, use CTRL + F5 at the same time to reload a page without cache. This fetches the freshest version of the page from the server and ignores your browser’s local cache files.
For Mac, hold SHIFT + Click reload button in Safari at the same time
Also, do you all normally comment with your phones or on a desktop or a mix?
Does anyone use the “Notify me of new comments via email” option? Does it work properly?
Also adjusted the fonts so that they’re easier to read for us old folk. Also, there is a toggle at the top of the page to switch to dark mode. Let me know if any has issues using that.
I had a nonce verification failure yesterday.
.
What happened to the days where you could simply write a post, submit it, and see it right away?
No muss, no fuss.
Ya know, just like how all the other football blogs work.
.
My .02….
If i have a problem, lets say with my truck,motorcycle, or snowmobile, that i can’t fix on my own…
I take it to someone with the expertise/training/tools….. who can fix it.
If that makes any sense.
No muss, no fuss.
Good feedback, thanks.
Anyway, another option is I can create accounts on this site for all the regulars and you can log in to post. This bypasses a lot of security checks vs anonymous posting. Email contact@totalpackers.com
Most decent sports sites this size use a real comment plug-in and not the default wordpress comments like this one does. I would buy one if everyone can agree on which one you prefer.
I’m not a website expert, but If your going to buy something to address and correct all that is wrong. Lets go with the one that works.
.
.02
.
Full Disclosure: Right now, the comments seem to be appearing directly after sending.
Which, seems cool as F…after all this time.
You’re definitely correct, you are not an expert.