GREEN BAY, Wis. — A full three hours before kickoff Sunday, with temperatures in the high 20s and snow flurries still falling, Jason Pierre-Paul walked out of the tunnel in the end zone at Lambeau Field, short-sleeved and fearing nothing.
“I take cold showers,” the Bucs outside linebacker shouted to no one in particular, warming up as if he were home back in Florida. “I’m ready.”
Advertisement
Scotty Miller, who played his share of cold-weather games at Bowling Green, wore shorts with the same defiance, in the same end zone where he would score a game-changing touchdown. Tristan Wirfs, plenty familiar with a chilly game day from his Iowa days, accidentally walked off the field into the Packers’ tunnel, and it was the only time the rookie looked lost the entire day.
The Bucs were underdogs, facing the NFC’s top seed and a league MVP in quarterback Aaron Rodgers, in a stadium where they were 1-15 since 1990. But they always had the confidence of a team that had beaten Green Bay by 28 points earlier this season, eager to show they were good enough to do it again with so much more on the line.
We’ve written about Tom Brady’s no-risk-it touchdown throw to Miller with one second left before halftime, and how the defense stepped up with huge stops when Brady stumbled and threw interceptions on three straight drives. Brady deserves credit for his three touchdown passes. In Green Bay’s long, storied history, only once has an opposing quarterback come into Lambeau in the playoffs and thrown for more touchdowns.
But here, to appreciate the little things that add up to an enormous victory and send the Bucs into history as the first team to play a Super Bowl on its home field, we offer up 10 unsung stars of Tampa Bay’s 31-26 victory over the Packers.
Leonard Fournette
The Bucs’ ground game outgained the Packers on Sunday, and though the overall numbers weren’t spectacular (24 carries for 76 yards, or 3.1 per carry), Fournette came up with two crucial plays.
You remember Brady’s touchdown to Miller before the half, but it was Fournette who converted the fourth-and-4 play immediately before it, catching a quick throw from Brady to move the chains. His best play was early in the second quarter after Brady had completed a 52-yard bomb to Chris Godwin. Fournette ran the ball on first down, and on that one carry, got more yards than his other seven first-and-10 carries combined.
Advertisement
Fournette was nearly stopped for no gain but ran outside to the right, then made a ridiculous spin move inside to get past Packers safety Adrian Amos, diving over two Packers defenders into the end zone for the touchdown. He has now scored a touchdown in all three Bucs’ postseason wins, living up to his “Playoff Lenny” nickname.
A spin move and broken tackle by Leonard Fournette puts Tampa back on top! #NFLPlayoffs #GoBucs
📺: #TBvsGB on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/cHuzDq5flQ pic.twitter.com/wPo4V0UJ6C— NFL (@NFL) January 24, 2021
Jordan Whitehead
With rookie Antoine Winfield sidelined by an ankle injury, that put even more pressure on Whitehead to make plays in the secondary.
In the second quarter, Whitehead forced a fumble from Packers back Aaron Jones, but Green Bay fell on the loose ball immediately, so the play was barely noticed. But on the opening drive of the second half, Jones caught a pass and was heading for a first down when Whitehead tackled him in the open field and forced a fumble that Devon White recovered and returned to the 8, setting up a touchdown.
Whitehead injured his shoulder and missed the rest of the game but still had five tackles in just over a half. Credit, too, to Mike Edwards (three tackles), who stepped in for Winfield, and Andrew Adams, who came in for Whitehead and had five tackles and a pass defensed.
If the Bucs can get Winfield and Whitehead back healthy in two weeks for the Super Bowl, it’s a major boost to the secondary against a Chiefs offense where you’ll need all the help you can get.
Jaydon Mickens
As the Bucs’ primary return specialist this season, Mickens has been largely unmemorable — his longest kickoff return all season had been 34 yards. Green Bay only got a touchback on one of six kickoffs, and Mickens provided an unexpected spark on the rest. Mickens took the opening kickoff out to the 34-yard line, and the Bucs drove for a touchdown and the initial momentum of the game. His biggest contribution came after the Packers had scored to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 28-23 at the end of the third quarter.
Advertisement
Mickens took the kickoff and returned it 43 yards to the Tampa Bay 45, the longest return of his NFL career. And while that possession ended with the second of Brady’s three interceptions, Mickens gave the Bucs a cushion in field position, so when the Packers got the turnover, they started from their own 19. Even after another Brady pick, they wouldn’t get closer than their own 24 on those two drives.
Field position is an unappreciated part of the game, but with consistent returns, the Bucs started their first 10 drives from their 24 or better, and the Packers started eight of their 10 from their own 25 or worse.
Ryan Succop
Succop has been incredibly reliable this year, especially for a kicker signed just days before the season started. On Sunday, that meant going 4-for-4 on extra points and hitting a clutch 46-yard field goal to extend the Bucs’ lead to eight points with five minutes to play.
Succop missed an extra point in the first quarter of the Bucs’ playoff opener at Washington, but since then, he has connected on 15 straight kicks. With a game still left, he already has the Bucs’ postseason records for most field goals (eight) and most points (32), breaking Martin Gramatica’s records of five and 24 from the Super Bowl run after the 2002 season.
Tyler Johnson
We’re not even talking about the pass-interference call he drew in the final two minutes to help the Bucs run out the clock. For the second week in a row, Johnson came up with a difficult and pivotal catch on his only reception of the game. Last week, it was a spectacular catch for a first down against the Saints.
On Sunday, it was a 16-yard catch on third-and-8, helping move the chains at a time when the offense wasn’t doing much of that. His diving grab across the middle helped the Bucs run another two minutes off the clock before an interception. These flashes in an overall quiet rookie season (there’s some talent in front of him) are why many are comparing his promise to that of Chris Godwin three years ago.
Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski runs the ball against Packers safety Adrian Amos (31) during the fourth quarter in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Lambeau Field. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)
Rob Gronkowski
We’ve been pointing out for three weeks that the next touchdown from Brady to Gronkowski will give them 13 in the playoffs, moving them past Joe Montana and Jerry Rice for the most productive passing combo in NFL playoff history. But if you’re going to break a record like that, you might as well do it in the Super Bowl, right?
Advertisement
Gronkowski has been more of an extra blocker in the playoffs, and the Packers managed just one sack of Brady in 37 dropbacks Sunday. His one catch — on his only target — was important, on one of the more creative plays of the game. The Bucs faked an end around to Miller, and then Brady faked a throw to Miller, then threw a screen in the opposite direction to Gronkowski, who rumbled 29 yards to the Packers’ 30. That put the Bucs in range for Succop’s field goal, giving them an eight-point lead late.
Vita Vea
Just seeing the massive defensive tackle back on the Bucs’ front was impressive, after he was sidelined with a fractured ankle sustained in the Week 5 loss at the Bears. Vea played more than expected and held up well — though he wasn’t credited with any tackles, he was central in a run defense that held the Packers to 67 rushing yards, one over their season low in 18 games this season.
The attention Vea draws from opponents helps free up other pass rushers to get one-on-one matchups on the outside, so he gets an unbilled assist on some of the five sacks from Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett.
Devin White
His 15 total tackles Sunday is a Bucs playoff record and speaks to the sheer ground he’s asked to cover in this defense. He had tackles against all three Packers backs, and on four of Davante Adams’ nine catches in the game. His biggest play showed his postseason knack for being around the ball. When Whitehead popped a fumble loose on the opening drive of the second half, White was right there to scoop up the ball and return it 21 yards to the 8.
Last week, White recovered a fumble forced by Winfield to set up another Bucs touchdown and intercepted a Drew Brees pass, making up for lost time after missing two games after a positive COVID-19 test.
Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs
Green Bay’s defense had 44 sacks in the 16 games where they didn’t play the Bucs, nearly three per game. But the only time all season they were held without a sack was the Bucs’ win in Week 6, and they were held to just one — from defensive tackle Kenny Clark — in Sunday’s win.
That speaks volumes for how well the Bucs’ two tackles kept pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith in check. He had 12.5 sacks in the regular season but was limited to one quarterback hit Sunday. The Bucs’ offensive line protected Brady extremely well, allowing only three quarterback hits in the entire game, with Aaron Rodgers getting eight (along with five sacks) by comparison. In three playoff games, Brady has only been sacked five times total, a credit to the line in front of him.
(Photo of Jordan Whitehead: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)