In what turned out to be a heavyweight fight between the Bucs and the Packers, Tampa Bay proved victorious over Green Bay by a score of 34-20. Most of the team had a good game, but here are the most disappointing from an otherwise good day.

NCB Christian Izien

Packers QB Jordan Love – Photo by: USA Today

Izien had his hands full against the Packers, getting matched up against rookie receiver Jayden Reed. Reed has been one of the best rookie receivers in football this year, coming into the game with 48 catches for 540 yards and five touchdowns while working out of the slot over 75% of the time.

Reed was able to beat Izien multiple times on short-to-intermediate out routes, utilizing his advanced feel for route-running and explosiveness in and out of his cuts to create easy separation. This led to a big 3rd-&-6 completion on the Packers’ opening drive and allowed the Green Bay offense to continue to drive deep into Bucs territory.

Later in the first half, Reed was able to get vertical on Izien down the right sideline, where Jordan Love tried to find him. Izien stayed in phase and was able to leap into the passing window, but was unable to get his head around to find the ball. This caused the zebras to call a defensive pass interference on Izien. The call was ticky-tack in my opinion, but Izien has to know to get turned around if he is going to make any contact.

RT Luke Goedeke

Goedeke has been heralded all year for his improved play, as he has mostly locked down the right side of the offensive line. Sunday was a different story, as he was victimized on several plays. He got push-pulled by Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary early in the game, leading to the Packers’ first sack of Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield. 

Goedeke nearly killed the Bucs’ final drive of the first half, too. Following another sack of Mayfield, he was called for a holding penalty that pushed Tampa Bay fully out of field goal range with a 2nd & 29. Tampa Bay was able to overcome it to a certain degree, regaining field goal range, but the two-play combo of the sack and the penalty killed the opportunity for a touchdown. Goedeke has struggled this year with more powerful bull-rushers, and Gary is one of the best at converting speed to power.

Todd Bowles’ Cover-3 Rules vs. Post Wheel

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Pewter Report has highlighted the issues with Bowles’s scheme against the post-wheel concept dating back to at least 2021. We asked him about it last week after it was exposed twice in as many weeks. Unfortunately for Bowles and his defense, they were unable to fix the problem this past week. The Packers exploited the same hole in the coverage that Atlanta and Carolina both took advantage of in each of the prior two weeks with the same concept for a big 36-yard gain that led to a field goal that tied the game at 10 in the first half.

Bucs’ Third-Down Defense

The Packers offense was forced to live in third down. But that doesn’t mean they were stifled. Green Bay was able to extend drive after drive on the day by converting multiple third downs.

For the day, the Packers were 6-of-12 on third down. It was most egregious on their second touchdown drive, when the Bucs defense allowed the Packers to convert on third down three different times on distances of five, eight and 14 yards. The 3rd & 14 resulted in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Love to Reed to put the Packers within three points of the Bucs.

CB Zyon McCollum

McCollum was in coverage on the Reed touchdown, along with several other plays that Green Bay was able to complete against the Bucs defense. This includes a 19-yard pass to Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks in the fourth quarter following a Bucs touchdown to go up 27-17. The play got the Packers down to the Bucs’ 32 yard-line and put them in position to score.

Fortunately for the Bucs, they were unable to do so. Overall. McCollum struggled to click and stick in the Bucs’ spot drop zone coverage, which allowed Green Bay receivers to make several big catches throughout the game.