Green Bay Packers at Bucs: 5 Big Questions Before Sunday’s Matchup
By Paul Bretl
Before the Green Bay Packers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, here are five big questions we await the answers to.
Coming off their bye week, the 4-0 Green Bay Packers will head to Tampa Bay to take on the 3-2 Buccaneers, who are coming off a disappointing loss in Chicago. While the Bucs have yet to consistently put it all together, this game will undoubtedly be the Packers’ toughest challenge yet.
However, as we’ve all seen, this Packers team is more than ready for the challenge as they boast the most productive offense in football, not to mention that it looks like they’ll be getting both Davante Adams and Kenny Clark back from injury this week.
So before these two teams kick off on Sunday, as always, I have my five big questions, and the answers to these questions will likely determine the outcome of this game.
How will Tampa handle not having Veta Vea?
In addition to losing the game in Chicago, Tampa also suffered a huge loss as Vita Vea broke his ankle, and he will likely miss the remainder of the year. At 6’4″ – 347 pounds, Vea was off to an excellent start this season and had been playing like one of the league’s top nose tackles.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Vea had totaled 16 pressures, two sacks, and 10 stops, which are plays that constitute a loss for the offense. Whether against the run or rushing the passer, Vea has been effective in both facets this season, and as any good nose tackle does, he takes up space and occupies multiple blockers, which frees up his teammates as well.
Even without Vea, this is still a stout defensive front; however, there’s no question that his presence in the middle will be missed.