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Back during the 2020 regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers squared off in an early-season tilt between two of the NFC’s top contenders, and two of the league’s best quarterbacks.
Tampa Bay went on to win that game, thanks in large part to what defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and the rest of the Buccaneers defense did to Aaron Rodgers. Tampa Bay found different ways to pressure the Packers quarterback, and the result was one of Rodgers’ worst regular-season performances. He finished the afternoon having completed 16 of 25 passes for 160 yards, no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. The NFL Passer Rating of 35.4 he posted that day was the third-worst single-game effort of his career.
Over the summer, Rodgers talked about facing Bowles and his defenses over the years. In an appearance on Pardon My Take, he highlighted how facing Bowles presents a number of different challenges:
I think Todd Bowles is doing a good job at that over the years. I think he’s a really good coach. You can always tell, schematically, what coaches are the best based on how the league adjusts ... And then there’s some teams trying to do what Coach Bowles does with the pressure package.
And earlier this week, Rodgers again discussed the challenges of facing a Bowles-led defense. “They always kind of look similar as far as the front is going to change, the pressure is going to change,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “The looks are going to be — there’s a lot of different things they throw at you. But they’re always adapting their personnel.”
That was indeed the case on Sunday, as Bowles and the Buccaneers threw everything they could think of at Rodgers and the Packers offense.
On this afternoon, at least, the veteran quarterback found a way to throw some of that stuff back.
In the first quarter, the Packers faced a third down in Tampa Bay territory, and aligned Rodgers in the shotgun. Tampa Bay responded with this look before the snap:
Tampa Bay shows pressure up front, putting both Devin White and Lavonte David into the A-Gaps. Green Bay puts running back Aaron Jones in the upback alignment, three yards behind the ball and between the center and right guard. With more defenses implementing read blitzes out of these packages — where the linebacker the center opens towards dropping off into coverage while the other linebacker continues his blitz path — teams are putting upbacks into this alignment as an added layer of security.
As you will see, center Josh Myers opens to the left, and Jones steps up into the right A-Gap.
However, both David and White drop into coverage. That does not mean, however, that the Buccaneers are not bringing pressure. Instead, it comes off the edge, as the Buccaneers drop into a two-deep zone:
What does Rodgers do in response to the pressure off the edge? He snaps off a quick throw to Randall Cobb, who turns the one-yard pass into a 17-yard gain:
The catch-and-run gave the Packers a fresh set of downs, and they would finish the drive with a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead.
That was the score early in the second quarter when Green Bay faced another third down, this time a 3rd and 8 on their own 31 yard-line. This time, Bowles really got creative, but Rodgers again found a way to solve the problems posed by the Buccaneers.
Here is what the quarterback saw before the snap:
Not only do the Buccaneers have six defenders along the line of scrimmage, but safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is lurking off the right edge as well. In response, Rodgers slides tight end Robert Tonyan, aligned wide to the right, into the formation to help as a blocker:
Tonyan indeed stays in to help with pass protection on the right edge, which is a good thing, as the Buccaneers do indeed bring pressure from that side. But their overall defensive scheme on this play is, for lack of a better word, wild:
As with the previous example, the Buccaneers spin into a two-deep coverage at the snap. Keanu Neal, aligned outside the left tackle, slides into the flat on the left side of the offense as both White and David drop into underneath zones. All of the pressure comes from the right side of the offense.
How does Rodgers navigate this look? Just as it seems like time is running out in the pocket he finds ... Tonyan. The protection holds initially, but Rodgers has to move in the pocket and is looking for an option downfield. Seeing this, Tonyan leaks out of the backfield and makes himself available for his quarterback late in the down:
Thanks to this bit of improvisation and awareness from Rodgers and Tonyan, the Packers kept the drive alive. They would settle for a field goal, extending their lead to 10-3.
(Also, a massive hat-tip to our own Justis Mosqueda, who highlighted this play on social media Monday morning).
In the fourth quarter, however, it looked like Bowles had finally dialed up the right pressure combination.
That’s when Rodgers did what he can do so well.
Simply beat you with a flick of the wrist:
Logan Ryan springs free off the edge, and has a clear path to the quarterback. But Rodgers turns to the right and with a simple flick of the wrist, he connects with Allen Lazard for a 26-yard gain. The drive would eventually stall out, setting the stage for a final drive from Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay offense, but this play provides another example of how Rodgers navigated the challenges presented by Bowles on Sunday.
And for our second hat-tip of the piece, a shout-out to Nate Tice, who does great work covering the NFL for The Athletic. The former college quarterback noted that you can hear the offensive lineman trying to sort out this blitz as the play unfolds. Turn the volume up!
you can hear RG Royce Newman desperately trying to communicate and screaming "RAY!" (slide to the right) to RT Elgton Jenkins pic.twitter.com/CPD5tXaaMZ— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice)
Heading into this game, Rodgers knew he had to find ways to handle what Bowles threw at him. Throughout the summer and this week, the quarterback talked about the challenges of facing his defense. Bowles threw some creative looks at him — and even got Rodgers to throw an interception in the third quarter, but on this day, Rodgers found some ways to throw them back.
