NFL: Packers exorcise their RJS demons

Not on a do-or-die Sunday at home in November with the season about to slip away and no one able to stop it.

The Green Bay Packers aren't supposed to win games at Raymond James Stadium. That's not written down anywhere and it doesn't come with a promise or a guarantee. But it's understood just the same: You don't double dip, Bigfoot's a myth, Green Bay loses at RJS.

Why? Because some places haunt us. Some places we just don't feel comfortable in. And for Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre, this always appeared to be one of those strange places.

In the Packers' five trips to RJS prior to Sunday's game, Green Bay was 0-5, Favre having thrown only five touchdown passes and nine interceptions, disturbing numbers for a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

But if you believed in premonitions, karma and destiny, you knew he would lose again. After all, this was RJS.

But he didn't.

Not this Sunday. Not in a game that would keep one team alive and kick dirt on the other.

The Packers and the Bucs were both a sobering 4-5 going into the game, former Super Bowl champs with Super Bowl quarterbacks, limping though a brutal season, hoping for some kind of miracle cure.

Early Sunday night, Green Bay was 5-5 and still nursing playoff hopes. Tampa Bay was wrestling with a 4-6 nightmare, changing its plans for the holidays.

"I want to apologize to the Tampa Bay fans," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said after the 20-13 loss. "That was not good enough."

What wasn't good enough was the Tampa Bay offensive line that kept jumping offsides, killing any chance the Bucs had of putting a drive together.

What wasn't good enough was the Tampa Bay passing game, which accounted for only 149 yards of offense (131 if you take in the three sacks).

What wasn't good enough was the celebrated Tampa Bay defense that allowed the Packers to drive 98 yards on 17 plays in the fourth quarter for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.

What wasn't good enough was the season after the "season." Suddenly, the 2002 Super Bowl win seems years ago.

What happened to that team?

"We had numerous penalties on the offensive line today," said Gruden, who shouldered his share of the blame for the Tampa Bay collapse. "Some were just a lack of concentration and we had some technique errors. We had some critical, critical penalties that really give you no chance to move the ball and have any kind of success."

Call it a season for Tampa Bay. There's little chance of making the playoffs now and Gruden know it, knows it better than any of us. He also knows he still has six games to work on the problems, to come up with some answers. That's all he can do.

"Right now, in all realistic views, if we cannot get off the ball in time -- if we are going to jump offsides and fail to do some basic fundamental things -- I'm more concerned with the next football game (than the playoffs)," Gruden said.

"We're not playing the football game -- particularly offensively -- with the etiquette the game calls for. Certainly we have our work cut out for us. We are going to try to correct this as soon as possible."

Unfortunately, it won't be soon enough.

Meanwhile, Favre -- who still only completed 13-of-28 passes for 92 yards with a touchdown and an interception -- smiled at the win and what it meant to beat the Bucs at home.

"Minnesota and Tampa Bay, over the long haul, have been a thorn in our side, and in my side," he said. "Losing to Tampa Bay here the last five years is tough to take, but they're a great defense.

"We're losing to a great team. Not that it makes it any easier, but when you beat a team like this at their place, it kind of feels good."

Forgive Favre. He must have been talking about last season's Bucs.