Green Bay Packers: 5 Stats to Know About the Buccaneers

Before the Green Bay Packers take the field on Sunday, here are five stats you need to know about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The bye week is over for the Green Bay Packers, so it is time to turn our focus to their Week 6 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Packers sit at a perfect 4-0 on the year and boast one of, if not the best offensive unit in the NFL this season. And although the defense has taken their lumps, they’ve come up with some key turnovers and stops when needed.

Meanwhile, the Bucs are coming off a tough Thursday night loss to the Chicago Bears and hold a 3-2 record. However, their defense will easily be Green Bay’s most difficult test this season, not to mention that dealing with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin won’t be easy either.

In order to help fans get a bit familiar with this somewhat uncommon opponent, I’ve put together five stats about Tampa to help give you an idea of who the Green Bay Packers will be up against.

Penalties

Through five games, one of the biggest issues plaguing this Buccaneers team is that they continue to beat themselves with penalties. According to the Football Database, the Bucs are tied with Arizona for the most penalties in the NFL with 42, and they are second in penalty yards with 410, behind only New Orleans.

Eight of Tampa’s penalties have come pre-snap in the form of false starts, and they have also been called for seven offensive holding penalties as well. Last Thursday’s loss to Chicago was a prime example of how penalties have hurt this Tampa team as they were flagged 11 times, stalling their own drives while extending the Bears’ offensive possessions.

Run Defense

Led by Aaron Jones, the Green Bay Packers have been one of the best rushing offenses in the game this season, averaging 150.8 rushing yards per game, the fifth-most in the NFL. But this week, they will be up against what is statistically the league’s best run defense.

Through five games, the Bucs are allowing 58.4 rushing yards per game, the lowest total in football, and opposing running backs are averaging a measly 2.48 yards per carry. Now, it’s certainly worth noting that the Bucs will be without Veta Vea, who has been one of the better nose tackles this season, but their defensive front still remains stout.

Turnovers

This is a young Buccaneers secondary that a quarterback of Aaron Rodgers’ stature could take advantage of; however, this is a secondary and a defensive unit that knows how to force turnovers. After five games, Tamp has nine total turnovers, including six interceptions, which is the third-highest total in the NFL.

Now, of course, Rodgers is as non-turnover prone of a quarterback as we’ve seen, but if that rare mistake does occur, this is a defense that will take advantage.

Red Zone

When in the red zone, Tom Brady and the Bucs’ offense has been very good this season at converting those appearances into touchdowns. Brady is completing nearly 61 percent of his passes and has 10 touchdowns to no interceptions. As a team, Tampa’s red zone touchdown rate of 72.2 percent is the sixth-best rate in the NFL this season, and the Brady – Evans combo inside the 20 has been particularly good.

Sacks

A big part of the Green Bay Packers’ success on offense this season has been the stellar play of their offensive line. This week, however, will be that unit’s biggest test against this Bucs’ defensive front. So far this season, Tampa has 17 sacks, the third-highest total in the NFL, and their adjusted sack rate – which takes into account total sacks along with down, distance, opponent, and other factors – of 9.7 percent is also the third-highest rate.

Once again, it’s worth mentioning that the Bucs will be without Vea, and that certainly will impact the pass rush, but with that said, this is still a talented group. As always, the name of the game in Green Bay is keeping Aaron Rodgers upright, and that Packer offensive line will certainly be challenged this week.