nerdmann
10 years ago

TAMPA, Fla. — Three quick post-game takeaways from the Green Bay Packers' 20-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium Sunday, which clinched the Packers' sixth consecutive playoff berth:

Playoff bound: It wasn't especially pretty, and whether it was a flu bug or the lower left leg injury he suffered early in the game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers yet again wasn't looking like his MVP-caliber self for much of the game. Nevertheless, the Packers made sure they punched their postseason ticket, marking the sixth straight time and seventh time in coach Mike McCarthy's nine-year tenure. They were put in a win-and-they're-in scenario when Philadelphia lost to Washington on Saturday night.

Nevertheless, they still have work to do. A victory next Sunday at home over Detroit at Lambeau Field — in a game that could very well end up being flexed onto Sunday Night Football on NBC — would give the Packers their fourth straight NFC North title and the NFC's No. 2 playoff seed, meaning a first-round playoff bye and a divisional-round home game. At the same time, a victory by the Lions, who haven't won on Wisconsin soil since 1991, would give them the NFC North crown.

Defensive dominance: Let's be honest: The Tampa Bay offense, which came into the game ranked 30th in the 32-team NFL, is awful. Technically, they don't even have an offensive coordinator, after Jeff Tedford, Rodgers' college coach at Cal-Berkeley, underwent a heart procedure in preseason and never returned to full-time work. Tedford has since fled to the Canadian Football League, which is probably good for him, since the Bucs' offensive ugliness wouldn't look good on his resume. That said, no matter how bad an offense they were facing, a dominating performance like Sunday's has to count for something. The Packers recorded seven sacks, including 2.5 by Clay Matthews and two by Julius Peppers, and late in the fourth quarter, the Bucs finally eclipsed the 100-yard total offense mark — only to fall below it after back-to-back sacks by Peppers and Matthews. The Buccaneers finished with just 109 yards and six first downs.

Not bad, all things considered: Rodgers didn't look like himself on Sunday, and if you didn't look at his statistics throughout the game, you might have been taken aback by them: He completed 31 of 40 passes for 318 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 108.1. Although he did lose a fumble and was clearly not moving the way he normally does inside and outside of the pocket, he found a way to get it done with some help from running back Eddie Lacy, who carried 17 times for 99 yards (putting him over 1,000 yards for the season) and a quick-throwing game plan that made sense against Bucs coach Lovie Smith's famed Tampa-2 defense. Lacy left the game with cramps and only had one fourth-quarter carry.

Jason Wilde  wrote:


“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Fan Shout
Mucky Tundra (17h) : Agreed; you stinks
Zero2Cool (17h) : I'm not beating anyone. I stinks.
Mucky Tundra (18h) : rough injury for tank dell. guy can't catch abreak
beast (19h) : So far the college playoffs have sucked... One team absolutely dominates the other
beast (22h) : Well even if you weren't positive towards a guy, you wouldn't nessarily want to tell the media that (if they don't know about it)
Martha Careful (22h) : I think MLF want Love to look past the end half issues, and feel good about his play. Our coaches generally keep a very positive tone.
beast (22h) : I think a great running game will do that for most QBs
packerfanoutwest (23h) : Coach Matt LaFleur has said quarterback Jordan Love is playing the best football of his career.
beast (21-Dec) : Oh, that's how you keep beating buckeye, with cheating
Zero2Cool (20-Dec) : There is a rule that if your name starts with 'b' you lose 15 points. Hey, I don't make the rules, I just enforce them!
wpr (20-Dec) : and then there is Beast. Running away with it all.
beast (20-Dec) : As of tonight, 3 way tie for 2nd in Pick'em, that battle is interesting!
beast (20-Dec) : Lions vs Vikings could be the main last game as it could determine division winners or #1 vs #2 seed
Mucky Tundra (20-Dec) : Or if KC needs to win for the #1 seed
Mucky Tundra (20-Dec) : Right now it looks like the only prime worthy games are Det-Minny and KC-Denver (if Denver can clinch a wild card spot)
Mucky Tundra (20-Dec) : The entirety of week 18 being listed as flex is weird
Zero2Cool (19-Dec) : Matt LaFleur today says unequivocally "Ted Thompson had nothing to do with the drafting of Jordan Love."
Zero2Cool (19-Dec) : Apparently, the editing is what pieces comments together. That Ted thing ... fake news.
Zero2Cool (19-Dec) : LaFleur "opportunity that Ted Thompson thought was too good to pass up"
Zero2Cool (19-Dec) : Jordan Love pick was Ted Thompson's idea.
Mucky Tundra (19-Dec) : Kyle Shanahan on signing De'Vondre Campbell as a FA last offseason: “We obviously made a mistake.”
packerfanoutwest (19-Dec) : Alexander’s last season with GB
Martha Careful (18-Dec) : if I were a professional athlete, I would probably look to see who the agent is for Kirk Cousins and then use him
beast (18-Dec) : $100 million fully guaranteed Kirk Cousins gets benched for rookie
Mucky Tundra (18-Dec) : a lower case b
Mucky Tundra (18-Dec) : The real lie is how beast capitalized his name in his message while it's normally spelled with
packerfanoutwest (18-Dec) : haha that's a lie
beast (17-Dec) : Despite what lies other might tell, Beast didn't hate the Winter Warnings, it felt refreshing to Beast for some reason.
Zero2Cool (17-Dec) : whiteout uniforms in general are pretty lame and weak. NFL greed at it's worst
Martha Careful (17-Dec) : The Viking uniforms, the whiteout uniforms specifically absolutely suck
beast (17-Dec) : Thanks Zero2Cool, looks a lot better now
beast (17-Dec) : Seems like someone has a crush on me, can't stop talking about me
Zero2Cool (17-Dec) : Should be gooder now. The forum default theme went to goofy land.
Zero2Cool (17-Dec) : What the hell
packerfanoutwest (17-Dec) : yeah beast hates the Winter Warning Unies
Mucky Tundra (16-Dec) : Okay I'm glad to know it's not just something happening to me lol
Mucky Tundra (16-Dec) : Zero, did you copy the Packers uniforms from last night and white out the board?
beast (16-Dec) : Oh crap, is the board going to the Winter Warning Uniforms too?!? It's all white on white right now!
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : WR Odell Beckham Jr is officially a free agent after clearing waivers.
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : Packers are 6th in sacks.
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : RB David Montgomery will undergo season-ending knee surgery.
Mucky Tundra (16-Dec) : Dan Campbell on onside kick with 12 minutes left: In hindsight, wish I didn’t do that
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : They have that whole 12th man thing so ...
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : Of the times we've played there, I just can't recall hearing our fans.
wpr (16-Dec) : Well done jdlax. Well done.
wpr (16-Dec) : I think more likely to be Pack fans that live in the area.
wpr (16-Dec) : Pack fans represent. I pointed it out early in the game to my wife. Announcers said Packers travel well.
Zero2Cool (16-Dec) : That was crazy to hear go pack go in Seattle of all plays. That 12 man thing an all
Mucky Tundra (16-Dec) : jdlax, good man!
jdlax (16-Dec) : Mucky, there were too many of us there to credit any single one but for sure i was 60% responsible.
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