Green Bay Packers v. Bucs: Behind Enemy Lines – NFC Championship

As we all remember — or hopefully you’ve been able to forget — the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already played each other this season. It was a Week 6 matchup that resulted in Green Bay’s worst loss of the season–a 38-10 defeat after jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Anything and everything went wrong that week.

So even though we’ve seen the Buccaneers already this season, and here at Dairyland Express — along with every other Packers site — we’ve been covering this matchup non-stop this week, I still thought it would be helpful to go ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ to get a first-hand look at this Tampa team.

Rob Leeds of the Pewter Plank, where they cover anything and everything about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was kind enough to answer five of my questions to help provide some added insight into this Bucs squad. Here is what Rob had to say:

Tampa dominated the Green Bay Packers back in October; for the teams that have beaten the Bucs, what has that path to victory looked like?

Rob: The Buccaneers have struggled on defense in all of their losses so far this season. When opposing quarterbacks can pass without pressure, the Bucs generally lose. On the offensive side of the ball for the Bucs, when the opposing team keys in on some of the weaker tendencies (like running on first down), the offense struggles to play up to its potential.

Takeaway: It’s no secret, this game is going to be won and lost in the trenches. The Green Bay Packers have to do a much better job of handling Tampa Bay’s blitzes and giving Rodgers time in the pocket. While on the other side of the ball, they need to find a way to pressure Tom Brady this time. When under pressure this season, Brady has been a very below-average quarterback.