5 takeaways from the Green Bay Packers 34-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15
GREEN BAY – If the quarterback still shows plenty of potential for the future, the Green Bay Packers are showing their surprising resurgence during a three-game win streak was more of a glimpse toward 2024 than a team ready for the present.
In reality, this is still the NFL’s youngest team, with a talented offense that isn’t ready to win shoot-out games, and a defense that is essentially a coin flip from week to week.
That might not be enough to crack into the playoffs this season, and the Packers’ 34-20 loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers presented a significant hurdle. The Packers dropped their second straight game after that three-game win streak, falling to 6-8 on the season.
BOX SCORE: Buccaneers 34, Packers 20
It was far from Jordan Love’s fault. Love completed 29-of-39 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 111.5 passer rating, but he was forced to overcome a defense that was incapable of covering anyone in the Tampa Bay secondary.
Here’s a look at the loss:
Jaire Alexander never missed more as his absence with shoulder injury extends to six straight games
The Packers have routinely gotten away with not having cornerback Jaire Alexander on the field this season, but that caught up to them Sunday. Alexander missed his sixth straight game because of a shoulder injury. The secondary has mostly held opposing quarterbacks in check, but Baker Mayfield served a reminder there’s no replacing a No. 1 cornerback. Without Alexander, and starting safety Darnell Savage, the Packers played like a secondary without all its pieces. Mayfield completed 22-of-28 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. A big part of that was the Packers’ inability to cover Chris Godwin, who finished with 10 catches on 12 targets for 155 yards. Alexander’s absence has been a sensitive issue around the franchise. He’s been limited at practice for weeks, but he indicated a desire to be fully healthy before playing. Down the stretch, few players are fully healthy. His absence was glaring in this loss.
Packers’ reemergence in the pass rush not enough to prevent Joe Barry from returning to the hot seat
It wasn’t the Packers defensive front’s fault. A week after failing to sack New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito, the Packers put a full-out assault on Mayfield. He was sacked five times. Two came from defensive lineman Kenny Clark, giving him a career-high 6.5 this season. Another came from Kingsley Enagbare in the first quarter, stripping Mayfield and recovering the fumble inside the Bucs’ 5-yard line. It was a good bounce back for a pass rush that inexplicably disappeared a week ago. The problem is, the rush was the only positive of the pass defense. When Mayfield had a clean pocket, he torched Joe Barry’s defense. After a stretch of quality games this season, it was the type of performance that puts the Packers defensive coordinator directly back on the hot seat. Barry’s job was saved last season because of how the defense finished down the stretch. The defense had a quality stretch this season, but down the stretch it has been inexcusable.
Tucker Kraft has a chance to break Packers’ third-round curse in NFL draft
In his first eight games this season, Tucker Kraft was buried behind fellow rookie tight end Luke Musgrave in the Packers offense. Then Musgrave went on injured reserve with a lacerated kidney against the Los Angeles Rams, propelling Kraft into a prominent role. Kraft hasn’t disappointed with his opportunity. He had three catches for 11 yards in those first eight games. Kraft has been a revelation since, catching 14 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns in the past five games. He had four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown Sunday, the first Lambeau Leap of his career. Kraft showcased his playmaking with the football on his score, changing directions on a dime and heading straight to the end zone from 5 yards out. Whenever Musgrave returns, the Packers will have two young, dynamic tight ends that could give opposing defenses problems. A big reason for that is Kraft appears to be breaking the curse of empty third-round picks.
Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks continue to shine in Packers offense
As young, promising playmakers go, a light should be shined on rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks too. Both entered last week with ankle injuries, though Reed was dropped from the injury report Friday. Wicks was listed questionable, but he led the Packers with six catches for 97 yards. Reed added six catches for 52 yards, including a touchdown in the back, right corner of the end zone where he was sure to plant both feet on the ground before stepping out of bounds. It was a disheartening loss, but if this season is about figuring out the offense for the future, Sunday was another step in the right direction.
Aaron Jones has hot start in first game back from sprained MCL, then fizzles
For one drive, it looked like Aaron Jones was back to being Aaron Jones. In his first game since spraining his MCL last month, Jones had eight carries for 44 yards on the Packers’ opening possession. His first went for 20 yards, Jones’ only 20-yard carry this season. Then, predictably, he disappeared. Jones only had 9 yards on five carries the rest of the way, finishing with 53 yards on 13 carries. It was a surprisingly heavy workload to start the game, given Jones had missed the previous three with a knee injury. Jones never seemed likely to have a heavy workload for four quarters in his first game back from a sprained MCL. It also didn’t help the Packers trailed most of the way, forced to play in catch-up mode, though the deficit was usually one possession. Either way, the Packers were unable to continue Jones’ hot start. He finished with 17 touches, but it looked like he could have had more.