Pick-Six Pokes Giant Hole in Packers’ Balloon
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers rolled into Tampa, Fla., on the short list of Super Bowl favorites and Aaron Rodgers among the MVP front-runners. With a 10-0 lead after the first quarter over the Buccaneers, those assertions looked genuine.
Three quarters later, the Packers and Rodgers looked like distant pretenders.
Kick-started by safety Jamel Dean’s stunning pick-six of Rodgers, the Buccaneers blasted the Packers 38-10.
Rodgers had a miserable afternoon. Green Bay (4-1) was rolling until Rodgers fired a pass to Davante Adams, only for it to be intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Dean. No quarterback in NFL history has avoided pick-sixes more than Rodgers – a statement that remains overwhelmingly true – but the play turned the game in staggering fashion.
A couple plays later, Rodgers was intercepted again. Mike Edwards was stopped just short of the goal line, not that it mattered. Running back Ronald Jones strolled into the end zone to give Tampa Bay (4-2) a stunning 14-10 lead.
The game might as well have been over. Rodgers could have turned the momentum but he overthrew tight end Marcedes Lewis for what should have been a long completion. Tom Brady fired a touchdown pass on the ensuing possession to make it 21-10.
Rodgers entered the week ranked second in the NFL in passer rating with 13 touchdowns vs. zero interceptions. He exited with a 35.4 passer rating, barely beating his career-worst 34.3 at Buffalo in December 2014. He also exited with a dirty jersey. In the first four games, he was sacked just three times. Midway through the fourth quarter, blitzing Buccaneers linebacker Devin White stormed through the middle and blasted Rodgers for the Bucs’ fourth sack of the day.
Much like last season, the return of Adams from injury meant nothing for an offense that had been rampaging through the NFL. His six catches for 61 yards led the team but meant little beyond Green Bay’s hot start to the game.
While Tampa Bay’s defense delivered two interceptions and a bunch of impact plays, Green Bay’s defense did absolutely nothing to turn the tide. It barely laid a finger on Brady and never got close to giving the team a chance to get back in the game. The Packers had zero sacks and didn't add to their league-low total of 12 passes defensed.
Green Bay entered the bye with a banged-up roster but a lot of momentum. It returned home with no momentum but a banged-up roster, with left tackle David Bakhtiari (chest) being among the players unable to finish.
The Packers’ first two drives resulted in 134 yards, 10 points and nine first downs. Its next 10 possessions netted 52 yards, zero points and four first downs.
It was quite the about-face offensively. Green Bay was the first team in NFL history to score 150-plus points with no turnovers in the first four games of the season. Its 152 points were its most ever through four games. Moreover, its four consecutive games of 30-plus points matched the 2016 team for the longest such streak in franchise history.
Instead, Dean’s pick-six poked a giant hole in the offensive balloon. After the opening scoring drives, the Packers failed to finish a drive on the other wise of midfield the rest of the afternoon.
