Buccaneers and Packers gear up for battle between legendary quarterbacks

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, each at the top of their respective division, gear up for a conference showdown on Sunday at 4:25 p.m.

Tampa Bay (3-2) is coming off a 20-19 loss to Chicago during Thursday Night Football last week. The Packers (4-0) aim to continue their perfect start to the season coming off a bye.

Future Hall of Famer duel

Both team’s starting quarterbacks are almost certainly going to find their names in Canton when it’s all said and done. Though both may be a bit past their prime, they’re still playing at a very high level.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been phenomenal to start the season, tossing 1,214 yards and 13 touchdowns to no interceptions in the first four games. Meanwhile, the Bucs’ Tom Brady has had to adjust a bit playing on a team other than New England for the first time in his career, but his production has remained.

He has thrown for 1,375 yards and 12 touchdowns but has struggled a bit with turnovers, throwing three interceptions. Still, Rodgers talked about the respect he had for the six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback on Thursday.

Despite both being staples in the NFL for the better part of the last two decades, they’ve only faced each other head-to-head twice in their careers. They split those two matchups, with the Packers winning in 2014 and the Patriots winning in 2018.

According to Brady, the feeling of respect is mutual.

Buccaneers in need of a bounce-back

The Bucs lost to the Bears in frustrating fashion. Despite allowing less than 250 yards of total offense, Chicago eked out a 20-19 victory.

Tampa Bay’s offense has been solid all season. Its defense, which was among the worst in the NFL in 2019, has been much improved this year.

It hasn’t faced a unit quite like the Green Bay offense, though. The Packers are averaging more than 450 yards per game, and against a Tampa Bay squad allowing 323 yards on average, something has to give.

Brady said the team knows it’s facing one of the league’s top teams. He believes his group has learned from previous, costly mistakes.

The Buccaneers are in a three-way tie atop the NFC South at 3-2,. A win would go a long way toward keeping Tampa Bay in the division race as we move into the heart of the season.

It will look to bounce back from last week’s disappointing loss by beating one of the NFL’s four remaining undefeated teams.