NFL: Packers, Bucs in the same boat

This afternoon at Raymond James Stadium, Favre and the Packers (4-5) will try to end their nightmarish run in Tampa at the expense of the fading Buccaneers (4-5). Neither team can afford another loss, and at the beginning of the season nobody could have foreseen that.

"Isn't every win a must-win game?" said Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber. "We don't want to put ourselves out of position to get to the playoffs. There's a lot of teams bunched up right now.

Teams that are losing are definitely not in an advantage to get in at the end, especially when you start thinking about tiebreakers and all the other stuff. That's becoming a reality for us."

Barber and the Tampa Bay secondary are looking for a chance to erase the memories of last week's collapse in Charlotte. Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme did his best Favre imitation in that one and drove his team 78 yards in 1:35 with no timeouts left to complete a gut- wrenching 27-24 comeback victory.

Delhomme, who had played poorly most of the day, went 5-of-6 on the drive and capped it off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith.

AT A GLANCE

Bucs (4-5) vs. Packers (4-5) When: Today, 4:15 p.m. Where: Raymond James Stadium Radio: AM-1200 and 98.9-FM Television: FOX (live) Key matchup: Packers quarterback Brett Favre versus Bucs' late-game defense. Suddenly, the vaunted Tampa Bay defense is having trouble stopping teams in the closing minutes. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme looked like Joe Montana last week in a 27-24 loss to the Panthers. Of note: The Packers lead the all- time series, 28-18-1, but Tampa Bay has won four of the last six meetings, including a 21-7 victory at home last Nov. 24. ... Tampa Bay kicker Martin Gramatica, a graduate of La Belle High, needs two points to pass Michael Husted and become the Bucs' all-time leading scorer. He has 501 coming into today's game.

The Packers can relate after watching the Philadelphia Eagles and quarterback Donovan McNabb do the same thing to them last Monday night at Lambeau Field in a 17-14 loss. Now Favre has to come into a stadium that he never has won in and try to save his team's playoff hopes.

Favre is making his NFL-record 200th consecutive start under center (including the playoffs), and he'll do it once again with his right (throwing) thumb in a cast healing from a fracture. The wet conditions at Lambeau led to Favre losing his grip on the ball three times for fumbles, including one on the final drive as he was trying to move his team into field goal position.

"I hadn't thought about it. I mean, Raymond James is no different than Lambeau Field right now, we've struggled a little bit here," Favre said of being 0-5 at RJS. "So to say that if we got them on our turf would be different, I mean, we might be better off playing them there, who knows?"

Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman points to Tampa Bay's ability to force turnovers and capitalize on them as being the primary cause of his team's troubles against the Bucs defense.

The Buccaneers extended their streak of consecutive games with a turnover to 50 last week in Carolina, and with Packers running back Ahman Green showing a propensity to fumble on the run, Barber and his teammates will be looking to pounce. But they also want to be careful not to let Green and Favre create their own nightmare on the scoreboard.

"(Favre) and Ahman Green together in one backfield is about as scary as you can get in the NFL," Barber said. "A guy that can throw the ball, a guy that can run the ball, they're the best in the league at what they do. We're familiar with them but that doesn't mean we're comfortable with them."

Somebody isn't going to be very comfortable when the final gun sounds.