Packers: 3 weaknesses exposed against Buccaneers

These three areas of the Green Bay Packers were exposed in their embarrassing loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Green Bay Packers had high hopes coming into their Week 6 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After all, they were undefeated at 4-0, coming off a bye week and getting two of their very best players in Davante Adams and Kenny Clark back. It’s safe to say the Bucs had other plans.

After Green Bay took a 10-0 lead, the tide quickly shifted on the Packers. Aaron Rodgers threw his first interception on the season, and to make matters worse the Bucs returned it for a touchdown. Rodgers then threw another interception on the Packers’ next possession that Tampa Bay turned into seven more points. And the route was on from there.

Afterward, the Packers talked about their bad week of practice and how they needed a wake-up call moving forward. However, it also exposed a number of key areas on their team that they must address in the immediate future.

3. Lack of pass rush

Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine didn’t need to blitz often last year, as Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and the rest of the Packers’ pass rush was able to hit home when only sending four guys after the quarterback. That hasn’t been the case through five games in 2020, as their pass rush has basically disappeared. This has put Pettine and the defense in a tough position, as opposing quarterbacks have been able to sit back, relax and pick apart the secondary from the pocket.

P. Smith has taken the biggest step back and isn’t nearly the same type of player he was a year ago. Z. Smith has had his moments, like against the Atlanta Falcons, but hasn’t been near consistent enough. It’s an astonishing development and it will be up to the guys like the Smith Bros, Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary to start winning their one-on-one battles.

2. Offensive line

The Packers’ offensive line was supposed to be a strength of the team coming into Sunday’s game. However, facing their toughest challenge of the season, they got flat-out embarrassed upfront by the Bucs. And that’s without their top defensive lineman Vita Vea. Rodgers was sacked six times, hit five other times and hurried 10 times. Not great, Bob. Star left tackle David Bakhtiari also went down and couldn’t return adding insult to injury. The Packers have to be better at the point of attack if they want to start beating the best teams in football.

1. No defensive playmakers

The last time Green Bay won the Super Bowl they had playmakers on both sides of the ball. Guys like Clay Matthews, Nick Collins and Charles Woodson could turn the game on a whim by forcing turnovers and setting their offense up with easy scores. It’s safe to say this version of the defense doesn’t have anything close to that.

Sure, they have a number of guys who are sound assignment-wise, but nobody who has proven they’ll make a game-changing play when their offense is struggling. As great as Jaire Alexander has been, he doesn’t seem to be around the football very often. While other guys in the secondary like Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage are less likely to make a play on the ball in the air. We’ve already covered their issues with the pass rush above. This is a problematic trend considering how their offense has struggled against elite defenses throughout Matt LaFleur’s tenure.