Green Bay Packers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Final Score: Packers 17, Bucs 14
Writer: Kevan Downs (@kdsportsnet on Instagram)
Offensive struggle and miscues on both sides in this one. Both teams had a pair of turnovers coming off of an interception from Jordan Love, a fumble in the red zone from Kaleb Johnson, and two interceptions from rookie Jalon Daniels in his first start in Baker Mayfield’s absence. Both teams struggled to establish the run, with the tag team of Chris Brooks, MarShawn Lloyd, and Kaleb Johnson, who saw more work once Brooks left with an ankle injury, for the Packers; while the Bucs rode with Bucky Irving, who received the majority of the carries out of that backfield. Daniels and defense did enough to keep it close late, but ultimately came up short with some protection breakdown on the last drive.
Three Up
- Tucker Kraft – Kraft finally found his first touchdown of the season, rewarding faithful holders. Kraft now has seen 15 targets over the last two weeks, despite the offensive line struggles resulting in Kraft seeing more blocking duties, which is much more encouraging usage compared to the first two weeks.
- Bucky Irving – Irving didn’t see the same receiving usage with Jalon Daniels, but was still clearly the main back the Bucs’ offense will ride. Despite efficiency struggles, they kept calling his number hoping to make life easier for Jalon Daniels.
- Chris Brooks* – The asterisk here to monitor his injury situation. Brooks and Lloyd were splitting carries during the first quarter, a 5-4 split in favor of Lloyd, while Brooks was far more efficient with his touches.
One Down
- Emeka Egbuka – Egbuka hasn’t seen the amount of volume expected coming into this season, and that continued today with Daniels at the helm.
Green Bay Packers
Quarterback
Jordan Love: 22/30, 197 Yards, 2 TD, 1 INT | 4 Carries, -8 Yards
While it wasn’t the greatest day for Love, the fact that any of Watson, Golden, and Kraft can all be touchdown threats is good for his fantasy value. He now has two touchdown passes in each game so far. While Kraft dropped one of his end zone targets, Love was later able to find Golden on a quick out to still get that touchdown. It’ll be a toss-up week to week whether the lack of a run game will be beneficial to Love via increased passing volume, or made tougher by not having a run game to keep the defense honest.
Notes
- Despite the offensive line struggles and lack of run game, Love made it cleanly through this game sack-free.
Missed Opportunities
- Bo Melton dropped a diving attempt on the first drive that would have put the offense with a first down near the Tampa 10 yard line.
- The offense got stopped in their tracks when Kaleb Johnson fumbled inside the 10, losing an opportunity for another possible touchdown pass.
- Coming off great field position after a punt, Love was intercepted at the Tampa Bay 7 targeting Matthew Golden.
Running Back
MarShawn Lloyd: 7 Carries, 13 Yards| 5 Targets, 5 Receptions, 36 Yards
Despite not being able to get much going on the ground, Lloyd saw the most receptions out of the backfield in this game, more than doubling his season total from 4 to 9.
Notes
- Lloyd looked best in his receiving role, making a highlight play hurdling the defender en route to a first down. The Green Bay backfield isn’t a desirable one to have a piece of, but Lloyd could offer some PPR upside.
Missed Opportunities
- Lloyd was hit in the backfield quick on a 2nd and goal attempt from the 3 yard line.
- Lloyd stepped out at the 2 yard line after catching a dump off and trying to dive for the end zone
Chris Brooks: 4 Carries, 30 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 5 Yards
The group of Brooks, Lloyd, and Johnson split early down carries, while Brooks sees more of the passing and quick game snaps, although that hasn’t yet translated to PPR upside. His health will need to be monitored moving forward as he was knocked out of this game with an ankle injury, but still seems like the best option out of this backfield to hold.
Missed Opportunities
- Brooks was stuffed for a loss of 2 on an attempt on 1st and goal from the 1.
Kaleb Johnson: 8 Carries, 42 Yards, fumble
Kaleb Johnson did not see any touches before Brooks left the game with injury. He will see more usage should Brooks miss time but otherwise appears firmly behind the duo of Brooks and Lloyd.
Notes
- Despite the efficient looking statline, Johnson struggled with stringing together solid runs, with 31 of his 42 yards coming off a single run. There is a chance he can play himself into a larger piece of the pie if he puts together some solid performances if Brooks is forced to miss time, but I’m not holding my breath.
Missed Opportunities
- With the offense surging, getting down inside the 10 yard line, Johnson had the ball poked out on an attempt from the 3 yard line on first and goal.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Tucker Kraft: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 42 Yards, 1 TD | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Notes
- Kraft was all over the field early. Getting catches short and turning them into bigger gains after the catch and even getting a direct snap which he carried for a first down.
- Maybe he just needed to shake off early season rust and get back into a rhythm after his injury last year, but his usage over the last two weeks has been encouraging.
Missed Opportunities
- Kraft dropped an easy target in the endzone in the second quarter.
Matthew Golden: 7 Targets, 3 Receptions, 21 Yards, 1 TD
Notes
- Golden got 2 targets in the end zone. The first, the defender got called for DPI, the second, he caught for the touchdown. The touchdown threat that both Watson and Golden can be helps them play off each other. They were in a stack, Golden ran a little double move/stutter step route and was able to connect with Love towards the side of the endzone.
Missed Opportunities
- Golden drew a DPI on one of his endzone attempts. However, he was able to get the touchdown a couple plays later.
Christian Watson: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 47 Yards
Notes
- Watson was good at settling into soft spots in the zone making for east completions for Jordan Love.
Missed Opportunities
- Watson had a deep corner route called back for OPI. The call itself was questionable, but they called multiple plays similarly in this game.
- On one of Watson’s receptions, he was tackled at the 3 yard line, narrowly missing out on a touchdown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Quarterback
Jalon Daniels: 19/27, 148 Yards, 1 TD, 2 INT | 8 Carries, 55 Yards
All things considered, not a bad first start for the rookie. Despite the mistakes, the game was close til the end. He struggled more down the field, making Egbuka a questionable start at best until Mayfield is back from injury, but could mean well for Chris Godwin and Cade Otton, as Daniels did better targeting short and intermediate routes outside the numbers.
Notes
- The inexperience was on display for Daniels, struggling against the different looks the Packer defense was throwing at him resulting in his multiple interceptions. Both he and the offensive line weren’t on the same page late in the game with protections as two free runners got through on back to back plays.
- Daniels was able to extend plays with his legs really well. Follwing escaping pressure, he could outrun defenders towards the sideline to try to find his safety net options short.
- Daniels offers some level of upside with his rushing ability for 2QB/SF leagues
Running Back
Bucky Irving: 16 Carries, 61 Yards
Notes
- The usage is there for Bucky and looks to continue that way, especially while Baker is out and the Bucs lean more on the run game to try to make things easier for Jalon Daniels. While inefficient overall in this game, he was able to get the offense going on their last drive of the game with multiple 8 yard runs.
Missed Opportunities
- While getting most of the usage out of this backfield, both of the other two, Kenny Gainwell and Sean Tucker were the ones walking away with touchdowns.
Kenny Gainwell: 3 Carries, 5 Yards | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 22 Yards, 1 TD
Despite his low amount of touches, Gainwell is still seeing a good amount of snaps. He hasn’t been able to repeat how dynamic he was in Pittsburgh last year, but remains a reasonable bench hold in case of an injury.
Notes
- Daniels was able to scramble left and find Gainwell who turned that into a score. Him being able to churn out impactful plays like that will be paramount to his fantasy value so long as Bucky Irving remains healthy.
Sean Tucker: 3 Carries, 10 Yards, 1 TD
Tucker got all 3 of his carries on the same drive and managed to snatch a touchdown off of them. Still, though he is seeing so few snaps that he is not worth holding at the moment.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Chris Godwin: 7 Targets, 6 Receptions, 31 Yards
Notes
- It took a while for Godwin to get involved, but finally got his first 3 targets on the day on their final drive before the half. Godwin still dominates in snap count along with Emeka Egbuka, so there still may be chances for him to be a floor flex play on PPR
Missed Opportunities
- On one of his targets over the middle, the defender was able to jump the route and intercept it.
Cade Otton: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 37 Yards
While not receiving a ton of volume, Otton looked to be that reliable short game option for Daniels. With the game on the line in their final drive, Otton recorded two of his receptions each resulting in a first down.
Missed Opportunities
- Otton dropped a big one down the seam on a 2nd and 11. Daniels had to scramble away from the pressure on the ensuing play and only got a three yard gain out of it forcing a punt.
Emeka Egbuka: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 13 Yards
Egbuka needs Baker back. Daniels looked far more comfortable finding his short pass options in Godwin and Otton. He did at least see one end zone target in this game.
Notes
- There were times in this game when it looked like Egbuka wasn’t playing full effort. In particular, the play that resulted in an interception, I’m not certain if he just thought there was no way he was getting targeted as he had pretty tight coverage on him, but he didn’t even seem to try to make an attempt to break up the interception.
Missed Opportunities
- Egbuka was unable to corral his only end zone target. The throw was low to try to keep it away from the defender, but the tight coversge made it a very difficult catch.