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Week 4 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 21, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30
What you need to know
| Green Bay Packers |
Despite throwing two touchdown passes, Aaron Rodgers was heavily pressured throughout this game and really struggled to lead the Green Bay offense. The quarterback was sacked three times and was knocked out of the game after injuring his shoulder on a run. Rodgers was able to return after sitting out a series, but his third interception of the game ended Green Bay's hope of a victory. He finished the game 14 of 27 for 165 yards with the two touchdowns and three interceptions. The nature and severity of Rodgers' shoulder injury was not disclosed during the television broadcast. The Packers could not get anything going in the running game against the stingy Tampa Bay defense as Green Bay only was able to muster a paltry 28 yards rushing. Ryan Grant averaged only 1.3 yards on 15 carriers and his third quarter fumble was returned 38 yards for a Buccaneers' touchdown.
Greg Jennings came into this contest leading the league in receiving yards and he had himself another good game against the Tampa Bay secondary. Targeted a team high 11 times, Jennings caught six passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns. The scoring catches of 25 and 48 yards were his first two touchdowns of the year.
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Coming off a game in which he threw for 407 yards and two touchdowns, Brian Griese came back to earth in Week 4 as he finished this contest with only 149 passing yards and one scoring throw. The Tampa Bay signal caller completed only 50% of his passes and almost gave the game away in the second half with two interceptions that were turned into 14 Green Bay points. Griese's lone touchdown toss was a nine yard pass to TE Alex Smith that tied the game at seven.
Though only able to accumulate 34 yards on the ground by half time, the Tampa Bay running game heated up in the second half and finished with 178 yards on 41 attempts. Earnest Graham led the way with 111 rushing yards while backup Warrick Dunn totaled 63 yards. Graham's score late in the fourth quarter put the Buccaneers up by nine with less than two minutes remaining. The big story of this game was the Tampa Bay defense. Holding Green Bay to only 181 total yards on offense, the Buccaneers recorded three sacks and forced four turnovers that were turned into 17 points. In addition to forcing a fumble, Derrick Brooks had an interception and Jermaine Phillips' 38 yard fumble return for a touchdown was the Tampa Bay defenses' third score of the year.
What you ought to know
| QB Aaron Rodgers, Pass: 14 - 27 - 165 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 2 - 8 - 0 |
Things looked promising for Rodgers early on as he led Green Bay to a touchdown on the team's opening drive. The Green Bay signal caller capped the initial series with a 25 yard touchdown pass to WR Greg Jennings. Rodgers struggled for the remainder of the afternoon, but he got Green Bay back in the game when he threaded a laser to Jennings in the third quarter that went for a 48 yard score. Rodgers sat out a series in the fourth quarter after he injured his shoulder on a run in which he came down on his extended, right arm. After missing the one drive, he came back in with Green Bay down by two, but his third interception of the game ended up being his final pass as QB Matt Flynn came in for the final Packers' series.
| QB Matt Flynn, Pass: 2 - 5 - 6 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Flynn made his first appearance in a regular season game in the fourth quarter when he went in for the injured Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers eventually returned, but Flynn also quarterbacked the final Green Bay drive after Tampa Bay went up by two scores late in the fourth quarter. He completed the first regular season pass of his career to RB Brandon Jackson.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 15 - 20 - 0, Rec: 2 - -4 - 0 (3 targets) |
It appeared that the Packers wanted to get Grant involved early in this game as he received 11 rushes in the first quarter, but those 11 attempts only went for 21 yards. Grant got only four more carriers for the rest of the game and his last nine touches went for a total of negative 9 yards. His third quarter fumble was returned 38 yards for a touchdown by Tampa Bay S Jermaine Phillips.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (3 targets) |
Jackson's biggest play on offense came late in the second quarter when he took a pass for a gain of 18 yards. QB Aaron Rodgers' first interception came when a pass to Jackson that hit him in the chest bounced into the hands of Tampa Bay LB Derrick Brooks.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 6 - 109 - 2 (11 targets) |
Jennings got going quickly in this game as he took his first target for a 25 yard touchdown. His second score came near the end of the third quarter when he caught a pass from QB Aaron Rodgers that went for a 48 yard touchdown. Jennings finished the day leading all Packers' pass catchers in targets, catches and yards.
| WR Jordy Nelson, Rec: 4 - 31 - 0 (5 targets) |
Nelson caught four of his five targets, but he averaged only 7.8 yards per catch. His long reception of the game came on Green Bay's first drive when his 11 yard catch on a third down play gave the Packers a first down.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (4 targets) |
Driver had a quiet day as his only catch of the game came during Green Bay's second series.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Lee's only catch of the day came near the end of the first quarter on Green Bay's third series.
| TE Tory Humphrey (1 targets) |
Humphrey's only target came in the first quarter and fell incomplete.
| PK Mason Crosby 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points |
Crosby had no field goal attempts in this game, but he did make good on all three of his extra point attempts.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Green Bay rush defense surrendered 178 rushing yards on 41 attempts for an average of 4.3 yards per run. Tampa Bay RB Earnest Graham scored on a one yard rushing touchdown that put the Buccaneers up by nine late in the fourth quarter.
| GB Pass Defense |
The Packers allowed Tampa Bay QB Brian Griese to complete 15 passes for only 149 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. CB Charles Woodson returned one of those interceptions 68 yards for a touchdown that gave Green Bay a 21--20 lead. The other two interceptions were by CB Tramon Williams and S Nick Collins. The Packers' pass rush was unable to record any sacks in this game.
| QB Brian Griese, Pass: 15 - 30 - 149 - 1 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 4 - 0 - 0 |
Despite a less than stellar performance, Griese made enough timely plays in this game to lead the Buccaneers to their third straight victory. Playing on Green Bay's half of the field for a large portion of this game, the quarterback led the Tampa Bay offense on five scoring drives that resulted in two touchdowns and three field goals. His nine yard touchdown pass to TE Alex Smith was his fourth scoring toss of the year, but for the second game in a row the Tampa Bay signal caller threw three interceptions.
| RB Earnest Graham, Rush: 20 - 111 - 1, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
Held in check during the first half, Graham accumulated 103 of his 111 yards over the final two quarters of the game. His long run of 47 yards came as Tampa Bay was attempting to run out the clock late in the fourth quarter and he just missed a touchdown on the play after he was pushed out of bounds near the one yard line. On the very next play, Graham scored his second rushing touchdown of the year when he plunged into the end zone from one yard out.
| RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 16 - 63 - 0, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (6 targets) |
Dunn's 16 rushing attempts were only four less than starting RB Earnest Graham. A few times after appearing to be bottled up for minimal gains, the veteran running back would make a cut and squirt through the mass of bodies to pick up gains of four or five yards. On his longest play from scrimmage, Dunn caught a short pass, broke a tackle, and scampered for 17 yards.
| WR Antonio Bryant, Rec: 4 - 39 - 0 (9 targets) |
Targeted a team high nine times, Bryant finished the day with four catches that went for 39 yards. The wide out was the intended receiver on a couple of deep balls and though both fell incomplete, the wide out was able to draw a 33 yard pass interference penalty on the second deep pass. His long reception of the game came in the third quarter when he took a 17 yard reception to the Buccaneers 40 yard line.
| WR Michael Clayton, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 3 - 28 - 0 (8 targets) |
Clayton showed good effort on his longest play from scrimmage when he hauled in a short pass, made a move to make a defender miss and then plowed his way forward for a gain of twelve. He was the intended receiver on a pass near the Packers' goal line, but he was only able to take the short pass down to the Green Bay five yard line. Clayton's day could have been a little bit better, but he dropped a short pass that hit him in the hands where it appeared he could have taken it for a longer gain. In addition to his pass catching duties, he also received an end around rush that went for a gain of four yards.
| WR Ike Hilliard, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (3 targets) |
Hilliard made a nice grab on his first catch when, despite being covered tightly, he went up high for a ball along the sideline that he brought down for a 13 yard gain. On his only other catch of the game, he caught a pass in the fourth quarter that went for a gain of eight.
| WR Maurice Stovall (1 targets) |
Stovall's only target of the game fell incomplete.
| WR Dexter Jackson |
Though not involved in the offense, Jackson averaged 33 yards on three kickoff returns and returned one punt for 19 yards.
| TE Alex Smith, Rec: 2 - 26 - 1 (2 targets) |
Smith's first catch of the game went for a nine yard touchdown catch that tied the game at seven. His only other reception came in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a pass that went for a gain of 17.
| TE John Gilmore, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Gilmore's only grab of the game came in the fourth quarter when his nine yard gain resulted in a Tampa Bay first down.
| TE Jerramy Stevens (2 targets) |
Stevens didn't catch a pass in the game, but he was the intended receiver on pass that went to the back of the end zone. The pass was high, but it did seem catchable as it went through the hands of Stevens.
| PK Matt Bryant 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Bryant was good on all three of his field goal attempts from distances of 23, 37, and 24 yards respectively. He also made all three of his extra point attempts.
| TB Rush Defense |
The Tampa Bay rush defense did a stellar job against the Green Bay ground game as it gave up only 28 yards rushing on 18 attempts. LB Derrick Brooks' hit on RB Ryan Grant forced a fumble that S Jermaine Phillips returned 38 yards for a touchdown.
| TB Pass Defense |
The Buccaneers allowed the two Green Bay quarterbacks to complete 16 passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. LB Derrick Brooks, LB Barrett Ruud, and DE Gaines Adams all had picks, while Ruud, DE Kevin Carter, and DE Jimmy Wilkerson all recorded solo sacks.
