Green Bay Packers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Match Player Stats On Dec 21, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 21, 2014

Packers 20, Buccaneers 3: Aaron Rodgers threw for 318 yards and a touchdown as visiting Green Bay got big performances from Eddie Lacy, Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson to clinch a playoff berth.

Rodgers was 31-of-40, including 11 passes to Cobb (career-high 131 yards) and nine to Nelson (113 yards, TD), while Lacy contributed 99 yards and a score on 17 carries. Clay Matthews recorded 2.5 of the seven sacks for the Packers (11-4), who also got two from Julius Peppers while holding the Buccaneers to 109 total yards.

Tampa Bay's Josh McCown was 12-of-26 for 147 yards while Vincent Jackson had a team-high 60 yards on three receptions. Doug Martin was limited to 17 yards on 10 carries for the Buccaneers (2-13), who held the ball for less than 22 minutes in falling to 0-7 at home.

Lacy opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 44-yard scoring rumble - his longest rush of the season and the longest TD run of his career. The Packers' next possession ended with a missed 48-yard field-goal attempt by Mason Crosby, but he made up for it shortly thereafter with a 42-yarder to make it 10-0 before Patrick Murray's 43-yarder at the buzzer created a seven-point halftime margin.

The Bucs stopped the Packers on fourth-and-goal from the 1 midway through the third, but they quickly punted and gave good field position to Green Bay, which unleashed a 12-play, 56-yard drive that ended with Crosby's 25-yard kick for a 13-3 lead with 10:19 to go in the contest. After Tampa Bay's eighth punt of the day, Rodgers drove Green Bay 71 yards, with the final yard coming on a third-down TD pass to Nelson that secured the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Matthews made six tackles - including three for a loss - and recorded four quarterback hits for Green Bay, which entered 3-4 away from home - with only one of those victories coming by more than three points. ... Without the late TD pass, Rodgers would have gone two straight games without throwing for a score for the first time since becoming the team's starting quarterback in 2008. ... Lacy went over 1,000 yards for the second straight season. He also scored a rushing TD for the fifth time in six games.