5 standouts from Packers' Week 4 win over the Buccaneers - Packers Wire
The Green Bay Packers held on to beat the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-14 in Week 4. It wasn't always pretty, and they lost a key player to a devastating injury, but this team desperately needed a win, and they got it.
Here's who stood out to help the Packers improve to 2-2 on the year.
The third-year safety played a complete game down in Tampa Bay. During the first quarter, Williams picked off undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who started in place of an injured Baker Mayfield. Williams made an exceptional play on the ball, diving in front of Emeka Egbuka to catch the ball near the sideline. It was initially ruled incomplete, but an expedited review confirmed Williams got his knee down inbounds. On the ensuing drive, Jordan Love connected with Matthew Golden for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal to take an early 7-0 lead. Williams also broke up a pass intended for tight end Cade Otton on third down during the second quarter and was responsible for two late pressures to help seal the win for the Packers. On the first, Williams sacked Daniels to force a third-and-16 with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, he blitzed on fourth down and forced an incomplete pass to create a turnover on downs. Finishing with seven combined tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack, two pass breakups, and two quarterback hits, Williams made winning plays throughout the game.
What started as a dream day for Cooper turned into a nightmare. His third-down sack on the opening drive forced a three-and-out. Then, with the game tied 7-7 late in the second quarter, the Buccaneers were driving until Cooper jumped an underneath pass for his first interception of the season. At the start of the second half, disaster struck when Cooper had to be carted off the field with a non-contact Achilles injury. After the game, Matt LaFleur said the outlook was "not good" for Cooper, indicating that it was in fact season-ending. Even though he missed most of the second half, Cooper still finished with a game-high nine combined tackles, one sack, and an interception. Unfortunately, Green Bay will be down one of its best defensive players for the rest of the season.
Cooperβs interception less than a minute remaining in the first half turned into a 58-yard field goal attempt for Smack. His first try was wide right, but he got a do over after Tampa Bay called a timeout before the snap. Fortunately, the rookie made good use of the mulligan and connected on try No. 2 to give Green Bay a 10-7 lead heading into halftime. Smack improved to 6-7 on the season with two makes from at least 58 yards. According to the team's official website, he now owns two of the four longest field goals in team history and is just the third rookie kicker to make multiple 58-plus-yard field goals in the same season.
Was it perfect? No. Multiple holding calls put the offense in unfavorable down-and-distance situations, but as a whole, the offensive line played much better than it had the first three weeks. The Packers offense rushed for 86 yards, which may not seem like a good day on the ground, but was a season-high. Pass protection was also much better, as Jordan Love never got sacked and only had to withstand two quarterback hits. It was a night-and-day performance for an offensive line that was off to a historically bad start. Inserting Laken Tomlinson and Travis Glover at left and right guard made a real difference, and it should get even better when Kevin Zeitler is good to go.
Unsurprisingly, Love was much more steady in a game where he wasn't under constant pressure. Drops were an issue yet again, and they were 2-for-10 on third down, but Love threw some excellent passes and finally looked settled in the pocket. As a result, he completed 22 out of 30 passes for 197 yards with two touchdowns. His one blunder was a fourth-quarter interception, but it was more of an impressive play by Buccaneers corner Jacob Parrish. Besides the pick, it was a clean game from Love and hopefully something the offense can build off of.
