Green Bay @ Tampa Bay preview
Raymond James Stadium
Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2017 ) Tampa Bay 20, Green Bay 26
It's not like the Green Bay Packers need the help, but they're about to get it anyway.
It appears as if their No. 1 receiver, Davante Adams, will return for Sunday's trip to Tampa Bay. Adams sat out their last two games with a hamstring injury, taking to Twitter prior to a 30-16 win over Atlanta on Oct. 5 to express his unhappiness with being deactivated.
But Adams, who caught 17 passes for 192 yards before sustaining his injury in a 42-21 rout of Detroit on Sept. 21, used Green Bay's bye week to heal. He was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, a good sign that he's going to play.
"I'll always just put it on the wideout room," Adams said. "I try and put as much on my back. The team goes as we go is just kind of how you put that onus on your back to take care of business."
Business has been good for the 4-0 Packers, with or without Adams. They average a league-high 38 points per game while ranking second in yards per game (454.3), fourth in rushing yards (150.8) and fifth in passing yardage (303.5).
While the schedule has been kind -- the combined record of its opponents is 5-15 -- Green Bay has only had to sweat out one close game. Odds are it'll have to play a 60-minute game against the Buccaneers (3-2).
And they'll face a team which figures to be motivated to wash the taste of its last game out of its mouth. Tampa Bay is coming off a 20-19 loss in Week 5 at Chicago, its offense unable to get out of its own way at times against a good Bears defense.
While most casual fans might remember that game for Bucs quarterback Tom Brady appearing to forget the downs on his team's last unsuccessful series, things went awry for him and the offense well before then.
Tampa Bay committed 11 penalties and its line allowed Brady to be sacked three times, along with being pressured on a decent percentage of his 41 passes. The Buccaneers scored 10 points in the first quarter, and couldn't match that for the game's remainder.
"You need to have clean games where you stay ahead on down and distance," Brady said.
"No way we should have lost that game," said Tampa Bay running back Ronald Jones. "Again, shooting ourselves in the foot."
Jones was one of the few offensive players to stand out. The third-year pro rushed for 106 yards, his second straight game over 100, and almost rescued a low Brady throw for a first-quarter touchdown that was overturned on review.
A bigger problem for the Buccaneers this week might be the absence of nose tackle Vita Vea, who broke his leg with less than two minutes left at Chicago after a teammate rolled up his leg.
Given that the Packers boast the NFL's second-leading rusher in Aaron Jones (374 yards), it stands to figure that the league's top rushing defense might have some trouble living up to that stature.
All those storylines, though, pale in comparison to the possibility of this being the last regular-season meeting between Brady and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The two have split their previous two matchups, Rodgers winning in 2014 at Lambeau Field and Brady taking the rematch two years ago in New England.
And Rodgers will take the field for this one with a fortified roster. Besides Adams, veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis is scheduled to return.
"They infuse our squad with a lot of confidence," Rodgers said.
--Field Level Media