Not only will the Packers trail the Buccaneers by three games and in the first tie-breaker, but they also will have a tougher remaining schedule, including six of their last 10 on the road. Sluggish starts are not new for coach Mike Holmgren. In 1992, '93 and '94, the slow starts led to 9-7 and second place in the NFC Central Division. Green Bay did trail the Bears by one game nine weeks into '95 and still won the division, but trying to overcome a three-game deficit with 10 games to go would be more difficult. All well and good, certainly, but without a victory today the Buccaneers might go on and render what the Packers do almost moot.
Home field is everything in the post-season, which makes the division title so critical.
What is fascinating about this matchup is that the young Buccaneers won't be relying on bells and whistles against the defending champion. That went out the window when Tony Dungy replaced Sam Wyche two years ago. No, the common thread heard last week from coaches and scouts who have played the Buccaneers is the physical style of football that Dungy has brought to what was a quirky, finesse team as recently as 1993. On defense, linebacker Hardy Nickerson isn't big but at least he hit hard and always played with tremendous emotion. And, on special teams, Dungy kept aging Kenny Gant, the former Cowboys kamikaze, and three rookie linebackers with marginal positional skills just so they could run down fast on kicks and blow people up.