TAMPA – The Packers survived the Florida heat and their own fourth-quarter mistakes on offense to leave Raymond James Stadium with a 17-14 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Here are five takeaways from the win, which improved Green Bay to 2-2.
1. It wasn't easy.
Despite playing a winless team starting an undrafted rookie backup QB, the Packers needed a defensive stop near midfield with less than two minutes left to preserve their precarious three-point lead.
On the final series, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon dialed up the pressure on Jalon Daniels, and it disrupted the Bucs' offense.
Safety Evan Williams came unblocked to get a sack on second down, setting up third-and-16. After a short screen made it fourth-and-11, Williams came unblocked again, wrapping his arms around Daniels' legs and forcing an incomplete pass to end the game.
"That was great," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said of the final series. "I thought JG was aggressive. That was big-time. He ran like three straight pressures right in a row and it was obviously effective, kept them out of field-goal range.
"Defensively, we did enough today to win the game."
2. The offense failed to put the game away.
But there wasn't much else to be happy about, as the Packers had two prime opportunities to make it a two-score game in the fourth quarter, and both drives ended with turnovers in scoring territory.
First, running back Kaleb Johnson fumbled inside the 5-yard line, not long after fellow running back MarShawn Lloyd had fumbled the ball out of bounds.
"We put the ball on the ground way too much," LaFleur said, his voice revealing some form of frustration or disgust, or a combination of both. "This stuff's gotta get fixed and it's gotta get fixed now."
Next, after a false start made it first-and-15, Jordan Love was picked off in the red zone on a pass for Matthew Golden over the middle into tight coverage, and the Bucs got their one final chance down by just three points.
"I was late on the read," Love said. "I can't make a mistake in that area. We're in scoring position and can't turn the ball over right there, plain and simple."
3. Another major injury appears to have hit this team.
Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper went down in the second half with what was announced as an Achilles injury. He was carted off the field.
LaFleur said the injury is "not good" and that he "would suspect" Cooper's season is over.
It's a significant loss. Cooper has been, along with edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, arguably one of the defense's top two players this season.
"Man, I'm sick," Love said of losing Cooper. "Pray for the best. Coop is such an impact player on our defense."
Cooper's interception late in the first half set up a 58-yard field goal from Trey Smack to give the Packers a 10-7 halftime lead. The defense's other interception came from Williams, which the offense turned into its first touchdown of the day.
4. Changes up front on offense improved the line play.
Newly acquired Laken Tomlinson took over at left guard, and Travis Glover started at right guard, both making their first starts of the season for Green Bay.
The pass protection for Love was vastly improved, as he was not sacked and hit only twice after taking a barrage of hits through the first three weeks.
"I think the O-line did a great job today," Love said. "Keeping me clean, giving me some time, they did a great job and you could feel the difference back there for sure."
The ground game was still a tough slog at times, but two explosive runs of 31 yards by Johnson and 27 by Chris Brooks (before he exited with an ankle injury) provide some hope for the struggles with the run.
"That allowed us to open up some of our playbook we haven't been doing," LaFleur said of the successful runs.
5. But clean football still remains elusive.
The Packers were flagged for 10 penalties, most of them on the offense. There also were a handful of dropped passes and the aforementioned fumbles.
"We were in first-and-20 quite a bit, and that's not winning football," LaFleur said. "There were some positive things, but we're never going to be satisfied with scoring 17 points in a game. It's not to our standard.
"We have to find ways when we have opportunities in the red area to convert. We can't be turning the ball over, can't have penalties … we have to clean up a lot of stuff."
The Bears are up next at Lambeau Field.
