The Green Bay Packers escaped with a 17-14 win, but they made it a lot harder on themselves than it needed to be.
Tampa Bay, now 0-4, pushed Green Bay all the way to the edge after the Packers let a 10-point fourth-quarter lead shrink in a hurry. The game sat at 10-7 at halftime, and that margin traced back to a late Buccaneers turnover that led to a 58-yard Trey Smack field goal.
At the time, it looked like a small swing. By the end, it was the difference.
The Bucs struck again just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, punching in a touchdown to make it 17-14. From there, neither side scored, even as the Packers flirted with disaster on a late fumble and an interception.
Kaleb Johnson was at the center of one of those tense moments. With Chris Brooks out, Matt LaFleur had no choice but to hand Johnson the RB2 role behind MarShawn Lloyd.
Lloyd had his own rough patches, but he also delivered a highlight-reel hurdle that will stick around for a while. Johnson, though, nearly handed the game back when he took the ball at the three-yard line and fumbled, giving Tampa Bay a chance to seize control.
Green Bay’s defense kept the door from swinging open all the way, and a near-safety eventually gave the Packers better field position, though that possession went nowhere.
Jordan Love also lived dangerously. He entered the game with an extremely low completion percentage, largely because he didn’t trust his offensive line, but he wasn’t sacked once at Raymond James Stadium.
That’s a real step forward for a line that’s still a work in progress, and it helped keep Green Bay afloat. Still, Love threw a costly interception when Jacob Parrish jumped his route to Matthew Golden.
It wasn’t the worst interception of Love’s career, and the defense again helped cover for him, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
The bigger issue was self-inflicted damage. Green Bay finished with 10 penalties for 68 yards, and four times the Packers found themselves staring at first-and-20.
That kind of mess keeps turning manageable drives into uphill climbs. Tampa Bay, by comparison, was flagged only four times for 17 yards.
LaFleur knows those mistakes have to get cleaned up, and Green Bay’s 2-2 start won’t mean much if the Packers keep getting in their own way.
In Other News...
Packers Defense Just Raised A Bigger Concern Before Bears Week
The Packers left Tampa with a 17-14 win and a little more confidence in the ground game, even after the offense spent much of the afternoon working through injuries to Chris Brooks and Brandon Cisse. Green Bays defense did enough to tilt the game, too, with multiple sacks, interceptions and a late sequence in which Evan Williams helped force a turnover on downs to seal the result.
What makes the victory feel more revealing, though, is the way the defense kept winning the biggest snaps while the broader picture around the unit stayed unsettled. Under coordinator Jonathan Gannon, the Packers are 2-2 after the latest grind-it-out effort, but the performance also sharpened the discussion heading into Bears week about whether the defense is simply making timely plays or masking a concern that could matter more against a sharper opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Packers May Have Found A Needed Short-Term Answer Up Front
Green Bays reshuffling along the offensive line produced a useful look at Travis Glover against the Buccaneers, and the Packers had every reason to see what he could do. With injuries and inconsistency creating openings at right guard, Glover got the start and handled a heavy workload, staying on the field for 60 snaps while giving up just one pressure and drawing one holding penalty.
It was not a flawless debut, but it was sturdy enough to suggest the Packers may have found a workable short-term fix while the room sorts itself out. Pro Football Focus graded Glover at 59.4 overall, which fits the profile of a player who steadied a spot that had been in flux. Kevin Zeitler is expected back once fully ready, but until then Green Bay at least has a name it can trust to keep the line moving. [Read more 🡒]
Matt LaFleur Nearly Turned A Needed Packers Win Into A Collapse
The Packers got the result they needed on Sunday, edging the Buccaneers 17-14, but the final stretch had plenty of reason to leave Green Bay uneasy. Matt LaFleurs team had done enough earlier to put itself in position to close the game out, and Tampa Bays offense was mostly stuck in neutral, with the run game serving as its only consistent source of movement.
Still, the late-game sequence turned a routine finish into a tense one. LaFleurs decision to pass in a critical fourth-quarter drive ended with an interception and suddenly gave the Buccaneers a path back into a game that seemed within Green Bays grasp. The Packers escaped with the win, but the way it nearly unraveled is the kind of coaching choice that will linger a lot longer than the final score. [Read more 🡒]