This is the second season in a row that the Bucs are off to a 2-0 start, but last year's squad couldn't get to 3-0, losing to the Rams in Los Angeles in Week Three. That ties the 2012 season for the fewest 2-0 teams after two weeks since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002. The Quest for 3-0 – The Buccaneers' fast start has them among a small group of 2-0 teams, with only five other clubs – the Giants, Eagles, Dolphins, Bills and Chiefs – also undefeated. The Buccaneers now start a run of three straight games in Tampa and it's chance for them to exert a home field advantage and stay atop the standings. And the last time that Green Bay visited Raymond James Stadium, during the 2020 regular season, the home team threw up 38 unanswered points in a 38-10 blowout. The Buccaneers were very good at home in 2021, winning seven of their eight games, including the first six. Tampa Bay prevailed in huge, raucous and packed-to-the-rafters domes in Dallas and New Orleans but will now have a sold out crowd on their side, finally. But the road gets old and the Buccaneers haven't played a game in their home stadium since August 13. In fact, dating back to last season, the Buccaneers have won a team-record six straight regular-season road games. Ready for Some Home Cooking – For the first time in team history, the Buccaneers have started a season with two road wins in the first two weeks of a season, and they are the only team in the league that has already banked two victories away from home. Whether he can remain so effective in that regard with his new cast of targets is an interesting question, but the Bucs' efforts to get to Rodgers and his counterefforts to avoid that should be a cat-and-mouse game all afternoon. Last year, he had 19 touchdowns and no interceptions on "quick passes" (released less than 2.5 seconds after the snap, and in that subset of throws he got the ball off in an average of 1.84 seconds. On the flip side, Rodgers can slow down any team's rush by getting rid of the ball very quickly. Of course, Todd Bowles' creative "blitzes" sometimes aren't actually blitzes, with only four defenders coming after the quarterback but from unexpected directions and positions. Blitzing Aaron Rodgers is a high-risk, high-reward strategy because Rodgers processes so quickly that he can often find the weaknesses created by bringing extra rushers and exploit them immediately. Shaquil Barrett has 11 pressures already and Devin White leads the Bucs with three sacks but a total of seven different players have gotten in on the sack party already. Jenkins returned to action last week and Bakhtiari may not be far behind, but the Green Bay front will still be challenged by a Buccaneer defense that has produced a league-high 10 sacks so far. It's too early in the season to draw sweeping conclusions, but it's possible that the Bucs and Packers will be using the rushing/defense formula to get more of their victories than in the past.Ī Backfield Invasion? – As noted above, due in part to some notable injuries the Packers have had some struggles keeping Rodgers upright, with the fifth worst sack rate allowed so far (10.94%). Tampa Bay has protected Brady better than the Packers have protected Rodgers, but Green Bay has been significantly better than the Bucs on third downs. The Bucs rushing attack ranks 13th, which is far better than it has been Brady's first two seasons. Dillon has been very effective – the Packers are sixth in rushing yards per game and third in yards per carry – and those two backs are also tied for the team lead with six catches each. Meanwhile, Green Bay's two-headed rushing attack of Aaron Jones and A.J. At this point last year, Brady had already thrown nine scoring tosses and Rodgers had four. Tampa Bay is three spots behind Green Bay in the passing rankings and Brady also has just two touchdown passes so far. Similarly, the Buccaneers have a completely new interior offensive line and are now dealing with injuries to left tackle Donovan Smith and the majority of their receiving corps. It remains to be seen if the likes of veteran addition Sammy Watkins and rookies Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs can support a high-powered passing attack, but so far the Packers rank 20th in passing yards per game and Aaron Rodgers has just two touchdown passes. Offensive Evolutions by the Bays – The Packers started the season without both of their usual offensive tackles, David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, and had a reworked receiver room after the departures of Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St.
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