GREEN BAY – Rookie RB Aaron Jones, who hadn't carried the ball all day, took his first carry 20 yards for the game-winning touchdown on the first possession of overtime, keeping the Packers' season alive with a 26-20 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
With the win, the Packers improved to 6-6 on the season with four games left. Tampa Bay fell to 4-8.
RB Jamaal Williams did the bulk of the work on the OT drive and finished the game with 21 carries for 113 yards and a TD. QB Brett Hundley was 13-of-22 for 84 yards with an interception for a 48.3 passer rating. He added seven rushes for 66 yards. WR Davante Adams had four catches for 42 yards to lead the receivers.
For Tampa Bay, QB Jameis Winston was 21-of-32 for 270 yards with two TDs and a 112.8 passer rating. RB Peyton Barber had 23 carries for 102 yards and four receptions for 41 yards.
Here's a recap of the all action.
First quarter:
Both teams scored on their opening possessions, and the Buccaneers took a 7-3 lead over the Packers into the second quarter.
The Packers won the toss and deferred. The Buccaneers picked up a pair of first downs on passes of 11 yards to TE Antony Auclair and 13 yards to TE Alan Cross. On third-and-8 from the Green Bay 40, a WR screen to Adam Humphries picked up just enough to move the chains again.
On the next third down, from the 28, QB Jameis Winston hit TE Cameron Brate over the middle as Brate got behind S Jermaine Whitehead. Brate tipped the ball to himself one-handed and took it in for the score. Tampa Bay led 7-0 just over five minutes in.
A holding penalty on LB Vince Biegel wiped out a long kickoff return by WR Trevor Davis, making the Packers start on their own 20. A 10-yard run by RB Jamaal Williams picked up a first down, but a holding penalty on LT David Bakhtiari backed Green Bay up again. An 11-yard pass to WR Davante Adams, 5-yard run by Williams and 5-yard pass to WR Jordy Nelson converted the long-yardage situation.
A 13-yard pass to Adams converted the next third down, and a 9-yard run by Williams plus a 4-yard pass to TE Richard Rodgers moved the chains again. On third-and-6 from the Tampa Bay 19, Hundley overthrew a wide-open WR Geronimo Allison in the end zone, and the Packers had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by K Mason Crosby.
Green Bay's defense got a three-and-out, and Hundley scrambled for 10 yards on the Packers' next play. A tripping penalty on TE Lance Kendricks pushed the Packers back again as the quarter expired.
Second quarter:
The Packers got some big plays in all three phases in the second quarter to take a 17-10 lead over the Buccaneers into halftime.
The Packers punted to open the second quarter, and Winston found TE O.J. Howard for 17 yards to begin the Bucs' next drive. On third down from the Green Bay 42, DT Mike Daniels and LB Clay Matthews combined on a sack of Winston to force a punt.
On Green Bay's first play of the next series, Hundley tried to go deep to Nelson, and Bucs S Justin Evans picked it off.
Winston tried to go deep to WR Mike Evans, and CB Davon House rode Evans' legs out of bounds for the incompletion, but House was injured on the play and walked off slowly. CB Josh Hawkins came in for him and nearly picked off Winston on the next play, forcing a punt.
LB Kyler Fackrell's rush up the middle blocked the punt, and the Packers recovered at the Tampa Bay 45. Williams ran around left end for 25 yards and a first down on the 20. Hundley scrambled 14 yards to make it first-and-goal on the 6. Williams powered down to the 1, but then was stuffed on second down. He would not be denied on third down, though, and the Packers took their first lead.
Tampa Bay began the next series with a 34-yard screen pass to RB Peyton Barber, and RB Charles Sims picked up 5 yards on a draw play on third-and-4. On first down from the Green Bay 30, DT Kenny Clark wrapped up Winston for a sack and knocked the ball loose. DE Dean Lowry snagged the fumble in midair, turned, and ran 62 yards untouched the other way for a touchdown, putting the Packers up 17-7 with 4:17 left in the half.
LB Jake Ryan got his first career sack on Tampa Bay's next possession, but Winston hit Sims for 13 yards on third-and-9 to get to midfield at the two-minute warning.
Winston hit WR DeSean Jackson for 19 yards to the 31, and a sack by Matthews set up third-and-5 from the 26. Winston found WR Chris Godwin for 7 yards to the 19, and the Bucs used a timeout with 34 seconds left.
LB Blake Martinez made a great tackle on Barber for a 1-yard gain on a screen, and CB Damarious Randall broke up a pass for Brate near the goal line. Winston's third-down pass was incomplete, and the Bucs settled for K Patrick Murray's 36-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the half.
Third quarter:
The score remained 17-10 at the end of the third quarter, but the Buccaneers were in goal-to-go as the third quarter expired.
The Packers opened the second half with a three-and-out, as Hundley was sacked for zero yards on a third-down scramble.
Tampa Bay picked up one first down on a third-and-1 run by Barber. Matthews sacked Winston, but he promptly hit Godwin for 17 yards and another first down anyway. Barber ran twice for 12 yards and a first down near midfield. Lowry raced through untouched for a sack on the next third down, and the Packers forced a punt that Davis fair-caught on Green Bay's own 6-yard line.
The Packers went three-and-out again, as Hundley was sacked again on third down, this time back at his 4-yard line. Vogel boomed a 57-yard punt from his own end zone, and a holding penalty on Tampa Bay's return forced the Bucs to start on their own 29-yard line.
Barber ran three straight times for 31 yards and a pair of first downs. RB Jacquizz Rodgers broke off a 19-yard run into the red zone. On third-and-7 from the 14, a scrambling Winston found Humphries for 11 yards for first-and-goal on the 3.
Fourth quarter:
The Packers tied the game with two minutes left and went to overtime with the Buccaneers at 20-20.
The Packers stopped Barber on a run and Hawkins broke up a pass for Godwin at the goal line.
The Packers then got the stop, as the Bucs made a huge mistake on third-and-goal. C Evan Smith, the former Packer, snapped the ball in shotgun when Winston was coming up to the line to make a check, and the QB had to recover the ball for a 9-yard loss. A 30-yard field goal brought Tampa Bay within 17-13 with 14:31 left.
It was announced Packers CB Damarious Randall, who came out of the game at the start of the series, was being evaluated for a concussion. He later returned.
The Packers went three-and-out for the third straight time in the second half, and WR Jeff Janis covered Vogel's punt well, putting the Bucs on their own 22. Packers LB Jake Ryan left the field with a neck injury.
Winston scrambled for 15 yards on the first snap. After a false start, Sims picked up 22 on a WR screen, and Winston found Evans for 17 yards to the Green Bay 28. On third-and-10, Winston hit Humphries over the middle for 12 yards. A holding penalty on Smith pushed the Bucs back to the 26, but Winston fired to Evans for 16 yards to the 10, and Barber ran 7 yards to make it first-and-goal on the 3.
An offside penalty on Daniels was preceded by a Winston fumble on a handoff attempt, and Winston recovered for a 7-yard loss on the 8. Winston threw his next pass from beyond the line of scrimmage, putting the ball on the 11 for third-and-goal. Winston found Brate just inside the goal line for the TD, and the Packers trailed 20-17 with 6:02 left.
Williams ran twice for 13 yards, Hundley's read-option keeper for 14 yards converted on third-and-2, and a 14-yard pass to Adams had a roughing-the-passer penalty tacked on, putting the Packers on the Tampa Bay 14-yard line.
Williams ran twice more for 9 yards total, setting up third-and-1 on the 5, but a pass to Nelson picked up nothing. The Packers tied the game on Crosby's 22-yard field goal with 2:01 left.
An illegal-block-in-the-back on Smith on the first play of Tampa Bay's next drive pushed the Bucs back to their own 10 with 1:46 left. On second-and-long, DT Kenny Clark sacked Winston, and the Packers used their first timeout with 1:00 left. Sims ran up the middle for 8 yards on third-and-20, and the Packers burned another timeout with 55 seconds left as the Bucs came on to punt from their own 18.
Davis had just a 2-yard return to the Green Bay 38, and the Packers had 44 seconds to work with. The Packers had a pass batted at the line and then lost 2 yards on a screen pass, doing nothing with the possession and sending the game to overtime.
Overtime:
The Packers won the OT coin toss, and Davis returned the kickoff 26 yards to the 28. Two runs by Williams for 6 yards and a 7-yard scramble by Hundley gave Green Bay a first down.
Hundley took off 18 yards on a read-option run, and Williams followed with a run for 9. A short pass to Williams turned into a 12-yard gain as he tiptoed along the sideline to the Tampa Bay 20. Then rookie RB Aaron Jones, on his first carry of the day, cut back to his left and sprinted 20 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
