Green Bay Beat Tampa Twice, Then Tried Like Hell to Give the Game Away.

Green Bay beat Tampa Bay 17–14 on October 4, and I genuinely don't know how you can watch that fourth quarter without getting pissed off if you're a Packers fan. You get one chance to end the game inside the five and fumble the ball. You get another one in scoring range and throw a pick. Then you need your defense to come rescue the same win you were just trying to give away.

That's what I mean when I say the Packers won this game twice. They had control, then handed Tampa chances to take it from them. Luckily for Green Bay, the Buccaneers were starting an undrafted rookie at quarterback, and the Packers' defense had just enough left to finish the job.

Two trips into scoring range. Two giveaways.

Let's talk about those two late possessions, because the scoreboard doesn't really tell you why this game was so ridiculous.

Green Bay was already up 17–14 when it moved the ball deep into Tampa territory. MarShawn Lloyd had a fumble go harmlessly out of bounds, and the Packers kept going. They got inside the five. Kaleb Johnson took a first-down handoff and lost the ball, which Tampa corner Zyon McCollum recovered at the four.

You would think that's the last time a team would let a game sit there. Nah. Green Bay got another opportunity in the red zone, then Love tried to force a ball toward Matthew Golden over the middle. Tampa intercepted it. Instead of making the Bucs chase two scores, they gave a winless team another chance to win with a field goal or touchdown.

And to be fair, Love owned the bad throw afterward. Green Bay didn't lose because it was lucky enough to have a defense that could make one more stop. But against a better offense, that same fourth-quarter mess probably costs you.

Then Evan Williams became the emergency exit

Tampa's final drive got near midfield before the Packers started heating up Jalon Daniels. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon dialed up consecutive pressures. Safety Evan Williams came free for a sack, pushing the Bucs behind the chains, then got pressure again on fourth down and forced the final desperation throw.

The play didn't end as a game-clinching interception. An apparent pick was overturned on review, but it was fourth down and the incomplete pass still ended Tampa's chance. That's why I want the actual video attached—it's easy for a clip to circulate with the wrong description.

Daniels deserves a little credit for keeping the Buccaneers alive in his first NFL start, filling in for the injured Baker Mayfield. He finished with 148 passing yards, a passing touchdown and 55 rushing yards, though he also threw two picks earlier in the game. Tampa's defense had already given him two fourth-quarter opportunities. The offense couldn't cash them.

Green Bay's defense paid a price for that win

It wasn't all celebration. Edgerrin Cooper went down with an Achilles injury and was carted off. Coach Matt LaFleur said afterward that the outlook wasn't good and that Cooper's season might be over. I'm not giving you a definitive diagnosis or timeline beyond what the team had made public in that report.

Cooper had already picked off Daniels late in the first half, setting up Trey Smack's 58-yard field goal. Evan Williams had another interception earlier that helped create the first Green Bay touchdown. When you think about those plays plus the final pressure, the defense did a hell of a lot of work.

Green Bay's offensive line actually held up better this week. Laken Tomlinson and Travis Glover came into the starting group at guard, and Love wasn't sacked. That's good news. It also makes the offensive mistakes even more frustrating, because this wasn't some game where the quarterback had zero time to throw.

My take: a win is a win. That doesn't mean it was good.

I can understand why a Packers fan would be happy to get out of Tampa at 2–2 instead of 1–3. Green Bay needed the win. But if all you look at is the W, you're missing a giant warning sign.

Ten penalties, missed chances in the red zone, a fumble, an interception and an injury to a key defender. Those are not the habits you wanna take into a division game against the Bears.

And the betting lesson isn't that I'm gonna find some magical guaranteed touchdown next week because Kraft and Golden scored this time. The takeaway is that reaching the red zone and actually getting a touchdown are two different things. Ball security and play-calling can change a whole game's result.

If you gotta ask the defense to save the game every time the offense reaches the five-yard line, something's wrong as hell.6ix / 6ixtv

Credit Love for the touchdowns to Tucker Kraft and Matthew Golden. Credit Williams and the defense for the finish. Then go back to practice and figure out why Green Bay spent so much time making a win unnecessarily difficult.

Original footage, box score and postgame accounts

6IX TAKE

Media note — Updated October 14, 2026. Original Green Bay game photograph remains credited to Packers/NFL with a direct source link; no rights transfer or public-domain status is claimed. In-body video is hosted and credited by the original team. Williams' apparent final-play interception was overturned; the fourth-down stop stood.