The performance of the Green Bay Packers defense is going to dominate the conversation in the following days. But on a brighter note, three of Green Bay’s rookie pass-catchers came up big during Sunday’s 34-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Leading the way in the passing game was Donatyvion Wicks, whose status throughout the week was up in the air as he dealt with an ankle injury suffered against the New York Giants. Wicks finished the game catching 6-of-7 passes for 97 yards at 16.2 yards per catch. And as Wicks often does, a few of those catches came in key moments, with the Packers facing third down.
“He did what he’s been doing all season,” said Jordan Love post-game. “He’s going out there and he’s making plays. He’s getting in the right spot, and then obviously, when the ball gets in his hands, he’s making plays after the catch. He had a big game today. Obviously, he’s a great player and someone we’ve just got to continue to build on going forward, but I think he’s just getting better every week.”
Alongside Wicks’ performance, Jayden Reed had 52 yards on six receptions of his own, while Tucker Kraft had 57 yards on four catches, with both players finding the end zone. The touchdown pass to Reed was particularly impressive. Love avoided pressure and bought time before delivering a strike while on the move to Reed in the back left corner of the end zone, who was able to get both feet in.
“Once I started scrambling right there,” Love said, “I just kept my eyes downfield and saw Jayden in the back of the end zone kind of breaking towards that corner and just put it out there for him, and he made a great catch, getting the toes in bounds. But, yeah, just kind of, the play broke down, and I saw him in the end zone.”
Love to Reed! A perfect ball and a perfect toe drag🔥
📺: #TBvsGB on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kw7mays4qU pic.twitter.com/6gTQP7NSdE— NFL (@NFL) December 17, 2023
In total, the trio of Wicks, Reed and Kraft had 206 of Love’s 284 passing yards.
While the offense as a whole dealt with inconsistencies, as Matt LaFleur put it afterward, the Green Bay passing game was able to find success. Love was efficient, completing 29-of-39 passes at 7.3 yards per attempt with two passing touchdowns.
Yet the game played out for the Packers as it has for many of Tampa Bay’s opponents this season. Green Bay was able to move the ball between the 20-yard lines but struggled once inside the red zone.
The Bucs’ defense entered Sunday’s game allowing the fourth-most yards per pass attempt, the second-most explosive pass plays, and the ninth-most red zone visits. But in true bend-but-don’t-break fashion, they have the fourth-best red zone defense in the NFL this season. The Packers would visit the Tampa Bay red zone five times but leave with only two touchdowns.
“I think that comes down to the red zone,” said Love. “I think we
were moving the ball fine and then we just got to the red zone and weren’t putting up those points, finishing with seven, so I think that’s what it is 100 percent. We were able to move the ball, we just couldn’t execute in the red zone.
“It’s a lot of things it comes down to, but (it’s) something that we’ve got clean up, got to focus on going forward, make sure we get to the best plays and the best execution in the games, but (it’s) definitely something we’re going to have to take a look at and do better at going forward.”
With how easily the Tampa Bay offense was moving the ball against the Green Bay defense, the Packers’ margin for error on offense was extremely small. Excluding the Bucs’ final possession, where they took a knee, they scored a touchdown on all three second-half possessions. On eight total possessions throughout the game, Tampa Bay scored on six of them.
The growth and development of the young Green Bay pass-catchers is happening right before us. it wasn’t long ago that dropped passes, wrong routes, and failing to make contested catches were the norm. Now, and by no means are things perfect, as we even saw against Tampa Bay; rather than there being chaos around Love, the rookie pass catchers are providing some stability.
Since Week 9, when things for this offense started to really turn around, Reed leads the team in receptions and ranks 13th among all receivers during that span. Wicks has been one of the most efficient receivers, ranking eighth in yards per route run, while Kraft has been one of the most productive tight ends at picking up yards after the catch over the previous three games.
“There’s a lot of bigger DBs in the league. It’s just tough on tough,” Wicks said of his ability to break tackles. “Whoever’s the most physical and wants it more, that’s who’s going to get it. Like I said, that’s something I go by. You’ve got to show me you’re tougher than me while we’re out there. Talking ain’t going to get it. It’s all in action.”
