Pirate Problems: Buccaneers Continue Mini-Rivalry With Packers
· Yahoo Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers aren’t “rivals” the way the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are, or the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys are.
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But the teams shared the NFL Central for almost a quarter century, and since then, have had some heated moments.
From Warren Sapp telling Mike Sherman to “put a jersey on” to Tampa’s most recent NFC Championship win, these two teams are capable of creating memorable moments at the other’s expense, and they’ll be facing off again in 2026.
These Packers might not be the juggernaut that they were when Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were at their best, but they aren’t bad. Green Bay has made the playoffs seven years in a row, and last season, nearly upset the rival Chicago Bears on the road in the wildcard round. This year, the Packers are expected to be right in the mix to win the NFC North, with the Bears and Detroit Lions also posing a challenge.
Green Bay has had three regular quarterbacks over the past 34 years, and although Jordan Love is, for now, the third-best, he certainly isn’t a slouch.
Love ended last season with 23 touchdowns, six interceptions, a career-best 66.3 completion percentage and 3,381 yards.
He’ll be going into the season without his top receiver from last year. Romeo Doubs ended 2025 with a team-high 724 yards and 55 receptions, tying for the team lead with six touchdowns.
But Doubs signed with the New England Patriots. So now, Christian Watson will have a bigger role. Green Bay extended the North Dakota State legend to a four-year, $110.5 million deal, and on the surface, that might look like a lot. Watson has been in the league for four seasons and has never gone for more than 620 yards in a year.
But last season, despite Doubs leading the Packers statistically, Watson might well have been the team’s top receiver. He had the same number of touchdown receptions as Doubs and went for 611 yards on 35 catches despite missing seven games due to injury. Had Watson played the full season and continued on the same pace, he would have eclipsed 1,000 yards.
Defensively, a lot of the Packers' success will depend on when Micah Parsons comes back. Parsons is one of the best players in the world when healthy, but isn’t expected to be healthy until around Week 5.
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