Three Keys to the Game: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Green Bay Packers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-5) travel north to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers (14-3) in the NFC Championship on Sunday.
The matchup marks the first time that Bucs' quarterback Tom Brady and Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers will meet in the postseason with so much at stake. If Tampa Bay wins, it'll be the first time since 2003 that the franchise will be in the Super Bowl. For Green Bay, it's been a decade since their last trip to the Super Bowl.
While most of the focus is on the two legendary quarterbacks, there's much more to the game on both sides of the ball. With that in mind, here are three keys to the game for the Bucs against the Packers:
1. Tampa Bay Has to Continue to Force Turnovers.
The Bucs finished last week with four total turnovers and three times Tampa Bay scored a touchdown on the following offensive possession. It was the total opposite of what we saw in Week 9 when New Orleans picked off Tom Brady three times and held Tampa Bay to just three points as the Saints put up nearly 40.
The last time the Packers and the Bucs faced each other, Rodgers was picked off twice, including when cornerback Jamel Deal returned one of those interceptions for a touchdown. Tampa Bay handled its business at home 38-10.
Since that Week 6 loss to the Bucs, Rodgers has only thrown three total interceptions over the course of 12 games.
Similar to Tampa Bay’s six-game win streak, the Packers have scored a lot of points, thanks to the quarterback play of Rodgers, averaging 33.2 points per game during their seven-game win streak. In the past seven games, Rodgers has thrown 21 touchdowns compared to just one interception.
“They’re playing great football now,” Bucs’ defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said Thursday. “They’re running the ball and throwing it well, they’ve got everybody healthy, they’re clicking on all cylinders and everybody is in sync. You can tell everybody is comfortable in the system and they’re executing very well.”
Coming up with turnovers will be critical in slowing down the Packers and will give Tampa Bay more opportunity to score points while Rodgers sits and watches on the bench.
“You watch the last six [to] eight,” Bowles said when asked if he watches Tampa Bay’s Week 6 game against Green Bay or if he will focus on Green Bay’s recent games. “At the beginning of the year, they’re trying to figure themselves out. That game means nothing way back when – they’re playing great football and we’re a different team as well.”
2. The Bucs Need to Get Back on Track in the Red Zone.
In the last three games, Tampa Bay has only scored a touchdown 37.50% of the time once inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Simply put, this needs to improve.
The struggle to score a touchdown in the red zone is something fairly new as the Bucs had scored a touchdown in the red zone nearly 64% of the time, which ranks 11th in the NFL, this year overall. Including field goals, the Bucs led the NFL with a 95.1 scoring percentage (58-of-61) on red zone drives during the regular season.
Compare that to Tampa Bay’s opponent this weekend, the Packers ranked fourth in the league in scoring points in the red zone converting 91.7% of the time. In the team’s last three games, Green Bay has scored a touchdown 78.5% of the time on red zone drives, nearly twice as often as the Bucs have in their last three.
Bucs’ head coach Bruce Arians explained why he thinks the team has recently struggled in the red zone.
“A little bit of all the above – mostly execution,” Arians said Thursday. “Some of it is protection, some of it is routes, some of it is catching the ball. We’ve had a couple go off our fingertips in the last few games that we need to catch.”
Luckily for the Bucs, kicker Ryan Succop has been able to continually make short field goals when Tampa Bay has stalled inside the 20-yard line. Still, when playing a team like the Packers, scoring seven points vs. three points every time in the red zone will be key.
On top of that, Arians said the team will have another challenge to face, one that could greatly impact kicks taken by Succop on Sunday: the wind.
“The wind is a much, much bigger factor,” Arians said when asked if he is more concerned about cold temperatures or high winds during Sunday’s game. “I don’t consider it cold unless it’s single digits. It’s not going to affect the game at 28 degrees, but the wind really affects the game.”
3. Tampa Bay Must Continue to Protect Tom Brady.
Brady was only sacked once in the NFC Divisional Round against the Saints last week and good things happen when you give him time in the pocket.
The last time these two teams met during the regular season, Brady wasn’t sacked once and finished the game with nearly 200 passing yards and two touchdown passes.
“When you protect him and you give him the time, I think it gives him the ability to make the best decision for the team,” tight end Rob Gronkowski said Thursday. “I feel like when he has time back there – he’ll hold onto the ball for sure when he has time – but when he’s sitting back there, he’s relaxed and he knows he’s not being pressured. It’s huge to keep him clean [and] it’s huge to give him time.”
This season, Tampa Bay’s offensive line has done a good job at giving Brady time in the pocket. The Bucs had five such games during the regular season where a sack wasn’t allowed, which is tied for second in the NFL.
In addition to protecting Brady and giving him time to throw in the pocket, a strong performance from the offensive line, in general, will be huge for the Bucs. This will allow for running back Ronald Jones II and the rest of the running back room to run the ball successfully.
“Being able to control the line of scrimmage and being able to run the ball efficiently has been huge for us, obviously, in the last five, six, seven weeks,” Bucs’ center Ryan Jensen said Thursday. “For us, it just helps open up everything else from the passing game, the play-action. Running the ball and wearing pass rushers out is always a good thing to do.”
Protecting Brady and creating open lanes for Jones and Co. to run through will be key for the Bucs this weekend against the Packers’ rush-defense.
