Thoughts on Week 4 (2026): Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Well, nothing ever comes easy in the NFL. Entering this game at Raymond James Stadium, the Green Bay Packers were looking to get their second win of the season and keep their season afloat. It was not easy against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, especially when you take into account the Florida heat and humidity. However, the Packers got the job done with a 17-14 win. Let’s go over this game, shall we?
The Packers won the coin toss and chose to defer to the second half, which resulted in the Buccaneers getting the ball first. The Buccaneers’ first drive ended in a three and out after rookie QB Jalon Daniels (who started for Tampa Bay due to Baker Mayfield dealing with a right thumb injury) failed to get the first down on an attempted scramble on third and 2 from the Tampa Bay 33. Skyy Moore was able to fair catch the punt at the Green Bay 29. Two plays into the Packers’ first drive, Jordan Love found Tucker Kraft for a 17 yard pass completion that went to the Green Bay 48. Three plays later, the drive ended in a punt due to an incomplete pass intended for Bo Melton. The punt by Daniel Whelan went out of bounds at the Tampa Bay 14. The Buccaneers’ ensuing drive ended when Evan Williams was able to get the interception while keeping his knee inbounds at the Green Bay 32. From there, the Packers took over on offense. On second and 6 from the 36, Chris Brooks took a handoff from Jordan Love and ran 27 yards to the Tampa Bay 37. Later in the drive, the Packers faced a fourth and 1 from the Tampa Bay 28. Rather than settle for a field goal, the Packers decided to go for it. Love found Kraft for a 10 yard pass completion that kept the drive alive. Kraft helped convert another fourth down when he took a direct snap and bulldozed his way for a three yard gain on fourth and 1 from the TB 9. Eventually, the Packers scored on a 2 yard TD pass to Matthew Golden, who made a great leaping catch while staying in bounds. The extra point kick was good, giving Green Bay a 7-0 lead with less than 13 minutes left in the second quarter. After two straight drives that ended in a three and out, the Buccaneers took over at their own 46 with 10:27 left in the quarter. On third and 5 from the Green Bay 49, Jalon Daniels completed a pass to Ted Hurst that went 28 yards to the GB 21. The Packers defense was unable to stop the Bucs from converting a fourth and 1 when they allowed an 8 yard run by Sean Tucker. Tucker then scored a touchdown 2 plays later. The extra point kick was good, tying the game at 7-7 with a little over 5 minutes left in the first half. Things almost went disastrous for the Packers on their next drive. On third and 5 from their own 31, Jordan Love completed a pass to Matthew Golden that was originally ruled a fumble and Tampa Bay ball at the Green Bay 12. Fortunately, the ruling was changed to an incomplete pass, which is still bad for Green Bay. Due to the drop by Golden, the Packers had to punt back to Tampa Bay. The Bucs were getting close to field goal range during their ensuing drive when Edgerrin Cooper picked off Jalon Daniels’ pass on second and 10 from the Green Bay 41. Cooper returned the pick to the TB 44. From there, the Packers offense only gained a few yards as they ran out the rest of the clock and set Trey Smack up for a 58 yard field goal. The kick was good, giving the Packers a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Packers started their first drive of the second half at their own 20 following a kickoff that landed in the landing zone (which is between the goal line and the 20) and bounced into the end zone for a touchback. Jordan Love started the drive with a 25 yard pass completion to tight end Mark Redman. Three plays later, MarShawn Lloyd ran for a 5 yard gain to convert a third and 1 from the TB 46. 2 plays later, Kaleb Johnson ran nearly all the bay for a touchdown, getting tackled at the 5 yard line by Antione Winfield Jr. 2 plays later, Tucker Kraft caught a 2 yard touchdown that was initially ruled incomplete. Matt LaFleur threw the challenge flag and the ruling was reversed. The extra point was good, giving Green Bay a 17-7 lead with a little over 10 and a half minutes left in the third quarter. The Buccaneers went three and out on their first second half drive. During the drive, while Xavier McKinney was busy sacking the quarterback for a loss of 8 yards, Edgerrin Cooper suffered a non-contact Achilles injury and had to be carted off the field. After the sack (and injury), the Bucs punted back to Green Bay, with Skyy Moore returning the punt to the Green Bay 38. Now up by ten, the Packers had an opportunity to add to the lead. Unfortunately, they did nothing and went three and out. Laken Tomlinson, who was one of the new offensive linemen brought in to help Green Bay, was called for a hands to the face penalty. Even after a Matthew Golden catch and run that set up a second and 7, the Packers faltered due to a false start penalty and an incomplete pass. After the punt by Daniel Whelan, the Bucs started at their own 16. In a grueling drive (partly thanks to the Florida humidity), the Packers defense was unable to stop the Bucs from moving the ball down the field and keeping possession for over 6 minutes of game time. Right at the start of the fourth quarter, Jalon Daniels scrambled to his left and found Kenneth Gainwell for a 10 yard touchdown. The extra point was good, cutting the lead to 17-14 just as the fourth quarter started. The Packers were driving down the field on their ensuing drive in the hopes of increasing their lead back to 10 points. They got so close to scoring a touchdown when Kaleb Johnson fumbled the ball on first and goal at the TB 3. Because of the lost fumble, which wasted a long drive by Green Bay, the Bucs took over at their own 4 yard line. After converting a third and 7 with an 8 yard pass completion to Emeka Egbuka, the Bucs lost 14 yards on their next 3 plays combined. There was a botched snap on third and 13, which was recovered by Jalon Daniels. Daniels was then sacked for an 11 yard loss and was able to escape the humiliation of being brought down for a safety due to forward progress stopping at the 1 yard line. The Packers started their next drive at the Tampa Bay 33 thanks to the punt return by Skyy Moore. They wasted that great field position when Jordan Love threw a pick that gave the Bucs a chance to tie the game or take the lead with over 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Bucs got to the Green Bay 46 before things went downhill for Tampa Bay. On second and 10 from the 46, Evan Williams got a sack that forced Tampa Bay to face a third and 16. Egbuka caught a pass that went for 5 yards, setting up a fourth and 11 from the Green Bay 47. Evan Williams nearly got another sack, but Jalon Daniels was able to get the ball out of his hands. The pass was initially ruled as an interception by Keisean Nixon, but replay review ruled it as an incomplete pass. Whether or not it was a pick did not matter as the Packers took over on downs and ran out the rest of the clock, sealing the 17-14 win. With the win, the Packers are now 2-2 on the season.
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page. Click on “Watch on YouTube” if you’re curious.)
On offense, it was another game filled with mistakes of numerous kinds. There were a few dropped passes, a lot of penalties, a lack of third down conversions, and 2 late turnovers that ruined scoring opportunities. Kaleb Johnson, who had a big run that set up a TD catch by Tucker Kraft in the third quarter, fumbled the ball when the Packers were so close to scoring a touchdown that would have helped ice the game earlier in the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth quarter, after the defense got a stop and Skyy Moore gave the Packers great field position, Jordan Love threw his third pick of the season. These 2 turnovers would have been disastrous had the defense not done its job in the end. I will say that the offensive line did a better job than the week before in terms of protecting Jordan Love and helping the running backs do their job. Laken Tomlinson, Kevin Zeitler, and Mekhi Becton were all brought in this week to help the Packers O-Line. Becton was not activated from the practice squad and Zeitler was listed as inactive after only 1 padded practice. Tomlinson came in and did the best he could, even though he had a hands to the face penalty. Travis Glover was named a starter on the O-Line due to injures to Jacob Monk and Aaron Banks (thank goodness that Donovan Jennings did not start). The most important thing is that the O-Line did not allow a single sack of Jordan Love, who was able to throw for 2 touchdowns against Tampa’s defense. It was not his best game, but he did not make too many mistakes aside from his fourth quarter pick. Hopefully the offense improves from here thanks to a revamped offensive line. There’s still a lot of work to do as they get the new linemen up to speed and as they deal with Jayden Reed’s absence in the WR room (his neck injury is keeping his out for the whole season), but I’m sure they’ll figure things out.
On defense, the Packers got the stops when they were needed and forced a couple of turnovers. Jalon Daniels was able to make some good plays for Tampa Bay, but the Packers defense sacked him 3 times and picked him off twice, with Evan Williams and Edgerrin Cooper getting the picks. Cooper led the team with 9 solo tackles and a sack in addition to his interception that set up the field goal right at the end of the first half. Early in the second half, Cooper suffered a non-contact Achilles injury as he was just running on the play that resulted in the sack by Xavier McKinney. Cooper was most likely on his way to an All-Pro campaign prior to his injury, which will knock him out for the rest of the year. I wish Cooper all the best in his recovery. Later in the game, rookie CB Brandon Cisse left due to being checked for a concussion and possible a neck issue. I’m hoping for the best with Cisse, as he has been a solid cornerback so far. Even though the defense had to deal with those two injuries, plus some other minor ones, the unit was able to get the clutch stops that sealed the win for Green Bay. Obviously, there will be tougher team coming up and Micah Parsons might not be ready to come back until November, but the defense needs to be ready for anything in the coming weeks. Hopefully they continue to improve their play and get better luck on the injury front, aside from Edgerrin Cooper’s Achilles injury (*knocks on wood*).
On Special Teams, the Packers avoided any game altering mistakes. There were no blocked field goals or punts, no turnovers, and no huge kick returns given up. Skyy Moore had a couple of nice returns, even though one of them was wasted due to Jordan Love throwing a pick in the fourth quarter. Trey Smack made each kick, including a 58 yard field goal just before halftime. Daniel Whelan punted well, with 3 of his 4 punts going deep inside Bucs territory. With a game as close as this one was, I was just glad that the Special Teams unit kept themselves composed and avoided crucial mistakes. Hopefully they keep that going throughout the season.
Overall, I was just glad the Packers survived that game against the Buccaneers. The win is just their 4th overall in Raymond James Stadium, with the others being in 2003, 2014, and 2022. Yes, Green Bay got out of this game battered and exhausted due to the humidity, but the most important thing is that they won and improved to 2-2 on the season. Next up is a critical NFC North matchup against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. I know that Caleb Williams probably won’t be ready for that game due to a hamstring injury, but the Packers can’t take any chances. Anything can happen when division rivals clash with each other, regardless of how the teams are doing. Hopefully the Packers get the job done and beat the Bears. I’ll be back for the recap of that game next week. In the meantime, I’m happy for another Packers win. Have a great week, everyone. Go Pack Go.
Comments