The Green Bay Packers made crucial individual mistakes on offense and defense in losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field.
Here are the studs and duds from the Packers’ 31-26 loss to the Buccaneers.
Studs
CB Jaire Alexander: He broke up a pass in one-on-one coverage, smothered Mike Evans on Adrian Amos’ interception, gave up just one completion and was in the right place at the right time on his two interceptions. It was a dominant individual performance. Tom Brady attempted 14 passes to the defense’s right side – Alexander’s side – but completed just five for 39 yards and two picks. Alexander was likely to blame on Chris Godwin’s 19-yard catch on third down off play-action, and he missed a tackle on Leonard Fournette’s touchdown run, but it’s hard to nitpick the performance overall. He was dominant in coverage. Brady’s earlier attempt to Godwin had no chance when Alexander basically ran the route for the receiver. Later, he made an acrobatic interception after finding Brady’s lollipop down the sideline. Evans didn’t have a catch with Alexander in coverage.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling: With the Buccaneers committing extra resources to cover Davante Adams, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers needed big plays from Valdes-Scantling, and he delivered. At least twice, he toasted Carlton Davis on go-routes. One resulted in a 50-yard touchdown; the other was a good throw away from another score. He caught two other passes of at least 20 yards, including an impressive 29-yarder up the seam from the slot on the final drive. His decisiveness getting off the line and into routes set him up for big plays. On all four catches, he beat a jam or press attempt and got up the field.
DL Kenny Clark: He led the Packers in tackles with eight, had a critical third-down sack in the first half and was a vital part of holding the Buccaneers under 4.0 yards per carry in the run game. All eight of his tackles were made within three yards of the line of scrimmage, including two after one yard in the run game and the 5-yard loss on the sack. He drove right through the right guard on third down to take down Brady near midfield. Five of his tackles were run stops on first down.
TE Marcedes Lewis: His block on Jason Pierre-Paul in front of a toss play for Jamaal Williams was a dominant individual effort. He drove the Bucs defensive end back 8-10 yards and then escorted him to the ground. Overall, he was reliable in the blocking game as usual. Lewis also caught three passes for 28 yards and actually gained 16 yards after the catch.
LB Christian Kirksey: He was excellent covering the check-downs to running backs. The play is a big part of the Bucs offense with Brady, but Kirksey was consistently in position to make stops. Leonard Fournette caught two passes for zero yards and dropped a pass with Kirksey in coverage. He played 29 quality snaps.
Duds
CB Kevin King: He was involved with three of the game’s biggest plays and will forever live on the highlight reels of the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl run. He badly mistimed his jump and gave up a 15-yard touchdown to Mike Evans on the Bucs’ opening drive. He inexplicably let speedy receiver Scotty Miller get behind him with six seconds left in the first half for a back-breaking 39-yard touchdown. And he was flagged for the game-sealing pass interference penalty on the Bucs’ final drive when he tugged on Tyler Johnson’s jersey to avoid getting beat on a crossing route. Tom Brady had a 140.1 passer rating when targeting him in coverage. King will be an unrestricted free agent.
RT Rick Wagner: He had major problems with Shaq Barrett for much of the contest. The Bucs edge rusher has an explosive first step, decent power and a devastatingly effective inside spin move. He kept mixing up the rushes to keep Wagner on his heels and off-balance. Of Barrett’s three sacks, two were directly the result of beating Wagner’s block attempt. And both came on third down, ending drives.
RB Aaron Jones: He fumbled twice and exited what could be his last game with the Packers with a chest injury. His first fumble could have been trouble; his second fumble was a disaster. The giveaway handed the Bucs a crucial touchdown coming out of the half. On 10 touches (six rushes, four catches), he gained just 34 total yards.
LT Billy Turner: The Packers finally missed All-Pro David Bakhtiari. Twice, Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul beat Turner for sacks, including one late in the first half that started an unstoppable spiral of critical mistakes. Pierre-Paul won with a crafty inside-out move on the first sack and used pure power to go right through Turner on the second. The Bucs edge rusher also had two stops for no gain against the run.
CB Chandon Sullivan: Three different times, Tom Brady went after him for conversions on third and long, including a pair of completions extending the Bucs’ first drive. When Brady got one-on-one looks with either Mike Evans or Chris Godwin in the slot, the ball was going there. Sullivan was fortunate Evans dropped a pass behind his coverage in the second half, creating Jaire Alexander’s first interception. It should have been a big play and could have set up another score.
S Will Redmond: Dropping the interception late in the first half ended up being a seven-point miss. Redmond, playing deep safety, ranged to his left and was in a perfect position to make the pick near the sideline. The ball went right through his hands. His 13 other snaps were uneventful.
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