Buccaneers lose to Green Bay Packers 14-17

Tampa Bay did almost everything a team needs to do to win on Sunday except finish drives and keep the ball. Green Bay beat the Buccaneers 17-14 at Raymond James Stadium, and the game turned on a 58-yard field goal from Trey Smack on the final play of the first half, plus two Tampa Bay interceptions that left the offense chasing a three-point deficit for the entire second half. The loss drops the Buccaneers to 0-4, after defeats to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Minnesota in the first three weeks.

Key facts

• Green Bay beat Tampa Bay 17-14 at Raymond James Stadium in Week 4, dropping the Buccaneers to 0-4.
• Packers kicker Trey Smack hit a 58-yard field goal as the first half ended, turning a 7-7 tie into a 10-7 Green Bay lead.
• Jalon Daniels threw for 148 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, and was sacked three times for 14 yards.
• Tampa Bay out-rushed Green Bay 141 yards to 86 and had more first downs, 19 to 15, but turned the ball over twice.
• Jordan Love completed 22 of 30 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, both from two yards out, with one interception.

A first half that tilted at the gun

The first quarter passed without a point. Green Bay broke through with 12:54 left in the second quarter, when Jordan Love found Matthew Golden for a 2-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Tampa Bay answered inside eight minutes: Sean Tucker punched in a 2-yard run with 5:13 to play in the half, and Chase McLaughlin's extra point tied it at 7.

That should have been a launching pad. Instead, the Packers took the half's last possession and Smack, with the clock at 0:00, drove a 58-yarder through to make it 10-7. It was the longest kick of the afternoon by a wide margin, and the only field goal either team attempted. McLaughlin, who was perfect on his two extra points, never had a field goal try.

Green Bay then extended the lead early in the third quarter. With 10:32 left, Love hit tight end Tucker Kraft for another 2-yard touchdown, and the Packers led 17-7.

The comeback that stopped at three

Tampa Bay did not fold. Early in the fourth quarter, with 14:49 on the clock, Jalon Daniels threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Gainwell, and McLaughlin's kick made it 17-14. That was the last score of the game. The Buccaneers had the rest of the game to level it and never did.

The reasons are visible in the box score. Daniels finished 19 of 27 for 148 yards (134 net after three sacks cost 14 yards), one touchdown and two interceptions, good for a 65.0 passer rating. Tampa Bay averaged just 4.5 yards per pass play and 4.5 yards per play overall, against 5.1 for Green Bay. The Buccaneers also converted 5 of 12 third downs and 2 of 3 fourth downs, solid numbers that did not translate into points once the interceptions piled up. [CHECK: why Daniels, not Baker Mayfield, started at quarterback; the ESPN data does not say]

Green Bay, for its part, was far from dominant. The Packers converted only 2 of 10 third downs, were flagged 10 times for 68 yards (Tampa Bay had four penalties for 17), and lost a fumble. They also ran 25 times for just 86 yards, 3.4 per carry. But Love was efficient enough to cover for all of it: 22 of 30, 197 yards, two touchdowns and a 98.9 rating, and the Packers went 3 for 3 on fourth down.

The turnover count was even at two apiece, with Green Bay's interception and fumble matching Tampa Bay's two picks. What separated the teams was the 58-yard kick and Love's two short touchdown passes.

Standout performances

On the ground, Tampa Bay was the better team. The Buccaneers rushed for 141 yards on 31 carries. Bucky Irving led the way with 61 yards on 16 attempts, and Daniels added 55 yards on eight scrambles and designed runs, including a long of 21. Tucker's touchdown came on three carries for 10 yards.

Through the air, Chris Godwin Jr. caught six passes for 31 yards on seven targets, and Cade Otton was the team's top receiver by yardage with four catches for 37. Ted Hurst III's 21-yard catch was Tampa Bay's longest, and Gainwell's two catches for 22 yards included the touchdown.

Defensively, linebacker Josiah Trotter led the Buccaneers with nine tackles, seven of them solo, and cornerback Jacob Parrish intercepted Love, returning it 8 yards, while adding five tackles, a tackle for loss and two passes defended.

For Green Bay, Tucker Kraft caught six passes for 42 yards and a score, Christian Watson led the team with 47 yards on three catches, and Kaleb Johnson's 42 yards on eight carries included a 31-yard run. The Packers' defense produced three sacks and seven quarterback hits, and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper collected nine tackles, a sack and an 18-yard interception return.

What it means

Four games in, the pattern is hard to ignore: Tampa Bay is not getting blown out, it is losing close ones. Sunday was the fourth defeat of the season, and the Buccaneers ran the ball well, moved the chains and kept the possession battle nearly level (29:50 to 30:10). What they did not do is protect the football or manufacture the one extra play that flips a three-point game. At 0-4, the margin for error in the NFC South has narrowed to almost nothing, and every remaining game has to be treated as a must-win.