Packers' Secondary Facing Another Tough Test in Bucs' Aerial Attack

A week after nearly pulling a stunning upset against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Green Bay Packers find themselves at 5-6 and looking up in the NFC playoff race. While their postseason hopes are, at this point, razor thin, wins in their final five games could conceivably give them a shot at a ninth consecutive playoff berth. First up, a home tilt with the 4-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Among the NFL community and those who cover the Packers, “winnable” is probably the word most used to describe the matchup from a Green Bay perspective. After all, the Packers are coming off a very promising performance against one of the league’s top teams, while Tampa Bay has lost six of eight and will be playing their twelfth consecutive game when they take the field Sunday. Defensively, the Bucs rank dead last in the league, allowing nearly 396 yards per game. Surely, even a Brett Hundley-led offense should be able to manage some success given those circumstances, and it probably will.

Unfortunately for Green Bay, the offense—backup quarterback and all—isn’t what they need to worry about.

Last week, despite forcing three turnovers, the Packers allowed Pittsburgh to rack up 462 yards of offense, including 341 through the air. To put that into perspective, Green Bay’s passing defense currently ranks 25th in the NFL, clocking in at just over 244 yards per game. The Steelers bested that number by nearly 100 yards.

Sure, Tampa Bay’s offense doesn’t feature the likes of Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown—but that doesn’t mean things are going to get any easier for the Packers on Sunday. In fact, according to the numbers, things may get tougher.

Averaging just under 265 yards per game, the Bucs’ passing attack ranks third in the league, trailing only the Patriots and Saints.

Jameis Winston, who will return to the lineup after missing three games with a shoulder injury, has thrown for 240 yards per game in his eight starts this season and, maybe more importantly, presents a challenge with his size and athleticism. The receiving corps is led by physical freak Mike Evans, who has caught 51 passes for 702 yards and four touchdowns. He is one of four Tampa Bay receivers—DeSean Jackson, Cameron Brate, O.J. Howard—with at least three scoring receptions on the season.

Green Bay sports a 1-4 record against teams currently ranked in the top 10 in passing offense, having lost to New Orleans (2), Pittsburgh (5), Atlanta (9) and Detroit (10), while beating only seventh-ranked Seattle. If you expand that list to include 12th-ranked Minnesota, the Packers are a meager 1-5 against top passing offenses in 2017.

The silver lining in this game may be Tampa Bay’s nearly non-existent running attack, which averages just 81 yards per game, ranking 28th in the league. Even if the Packers are able to hold the Bucs on the ground, however, they haven’t exactly excelled in long-yardage, obvious passing situations. If the pass rush continues to struggle and allows Winston to pick apart the secondary, this “winnable” game could become a loss very quickly, and the Packers can officially wave goodbye to 2017.

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Comments (4)

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Rossonero's picture

December 01, 2017 at 11:48 am

I say play plenty of nickel and dime and dare the Bucs to try their putrid run game. Getting Matthews and maybe Kenny Clark will be huge, but we will miss Kevin King.

Packers 24, Bucs 19

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cuervo's picture

December 01, 2017 at 12:29 pm

Didn't realize the Bucs had a passing attack that was that good, which does not bode well for GB.
GB has proven they can defend the run quite well, they have also proven they cannot defend the pass. If I was Tampa, my game plan would be to pass on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down with a maximum of 15 run plays the entire game.

Bucs 24, Pack 13.

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GBPDAN1's picture

December 01, 2017 at 03:38 pm

It's unfortunate that Kevin King will miss this game and that he's been battling injuries all year. These reps against quality NFL receivers are valuable for a rookie.

Let's hope Hundley can pick up where he left off against Pittsburgh. We need to score points!

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NWPackersfan's picture

December 01, 2017 at 04:33 pm

Okay this is off topic but i see we brought Clark on the active roster today and i'm wondering what happen to Geronimo Allison? He hasn't played since Chicago and can't find anything about an injury....
Go Pack Go!!!!

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