TAMPA FL. — No one sounded like they were big fans of the way Green Bay Packers Matt LaFleur was All-Pro left tackle coach David Bakhtiari Back into the line-up But it worked.
Their offense is not good enough, no one has said so. Yet rookie receiver Romeo Doubs There was a way to get out.
It was a difficult situation, but it worked. Tom Brady His depleted Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense marched 89 yards for a touchdown in the final minute, a superbly defended 2-point play left everyone on the defensive side of the visitor’s locker room at Raymond James Stadium with chests puffed out.
The Packers fought for a 14-12 win Over the Buccaneers, that could be the last meeting between Brady and Aaron RodgersHowever, few people will be able to recall it for what either of them did.
Rather, the Packers (2-1) avoided their first 1-2 start since 2014 with what coach Matt LaFleur called a “gritty team win” in large part because of the three aforementioned developments.
It started with Bakhtiari, who played 34 of the Packers’ 60 offensive plays, though those plays weren’t consecutive in his long-awaited return. He instead alternated with Yosh Nijman (who also played 26 snaps at left tackle). Bakhtiari acknowledged that none of the linemen were excited about LaFleur’s rotation, but it allowed Bakhtiari the opportunity to relax and not be overwhelmed by the 88 degree heat in what was his longest action since he tore his ACL in his left leg 20 months ago.
“It was something that — full disclosure — we weren’t the biggest fans of, the linemen weren’t,” Bakhtiari said. “But give credit to coach. He held firm to his convictions. He called it. We looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going to make the most of it.’”
LaFleur did not want a repeat of Bakhtiari’s first comeback attempt in the 2021 regular-season finale at Detroit, when his left tackle played the first 27 snaps of the game and then couldn’t go again in the playoffs.
Bakhtiari admitted that he felt like he was on adrenaline after the game but he stated that he left Tampa feeling a lot different about his future than he did last season.
“Physically, completely different,” Bakhtiari said of how he felt after Sunday’s game. “Night and day difference between this opportunity and that opportunity.”
Given how much Rodgers loves Bakhtiari, that has to bode well for an offense that clearly hasn’t clicked yet. The Packers have scored three points in the second half of their victories.
Doubs’s fourth-round selection, who was a great player in the absence injured receivers. Sammy Watkins And Christian WatsonIt could also be a sign of things to come. Doubs caught eight passes to score a touchdown and he rushed for 73 yards. His eight catches tied him for the second-most Packers rookies in a single game of franchise history.
After Rodgers claimed that he was giving Doubs trouble in practice Friday for body-catching the ball, when he should be using his hands, this is now.
“He just has such great hands,” Rodgers said. “Couple balls were off the frame today that he caught very nicely. He’s learning. I feel like his route-running seemed like, was pretty solid today, but we’ll go back and look at the tape and see if there’s some more opportunities I could’ve given him.”
Rodgers will require deeper threats at some point. Doubs might be able do that. But on Sunday, 22 of his 27 completions were within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, tied for the third most in his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Rodgers had a 3.0 average air yardage on his completions, the league average being 5.9. 68% of Rodgers’ passing yards (173 of 255) came from after the catch. He’s on track to set career lows in average air yardage and career highs in YAC.
Perhaps the Packers will just keep winning and living if they can continue to play great defense. As soft as it looked on Brady’s final drive, their effort on the 2-point conversion attempt looked perfect. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell He walked to the flat and saw Brady looking at him. Russell GageHe broke the ball and broke it up.
And if that hadn’t worked, safety Darnell Savage said, “If he didn’t make the play, I was.”
Before that, two important things occurred: First, the Bucs took an out-of-game delay penalty which moved the ball from the 2-yard line to the 7 yard line. Rodgers approached LaFleur to tell him something shortly before that play. While LaFleur smiled about it, indicating Rodgers gave him some meaningful information, he wouldn’t divulge it.
Whatever it was, it may be a sign of how this team needs things like Bakhtiari’s return, Doubs’ emergence, and big plays on defense and special teams to win.
“Sometimes it’s tilted a little bit more to one side,” Rodgers said. “But offensively, we’re young and we’re struggling at times to finish things off … So just got to tighten things up a little bit. But our defense is holding them to 12 points, we’re going to win probably all those games.”