The clouds of foreboding for the Packers began earlier in the week when it was announced that their top WR, Billie Schroeder would miss yet another game with a sprained ankle.
Packer fans could only scratch their heads and wonder about the severity of the injury. Last year Packer leader Brett Favre was knocked out of the first Tampa Bay game by a sprained ankle inflicted by his nemesis Warren Sapp, only to return to action the following week against the Colts and throw for 300 yards and two TD’s. And many could recall several season’s ago when Favre suffered a severely sprained ankle which kept him on crutches all week, only to see him return to action against the Bears and hurl 5 TD passes.The game itself began
An intercepted pass and a fumble by RB Ahman Green were converted by the Tampa Bay offense into a field goal and a touchdown. The balance of the half was spent in futility by both offensive squads as two great defenses held their counterparts in check, and ended on yet another missed Ryan Longwell field goal, his sixth miss of the season.
The second half began as a grim replay of the second quarter when Favre gave up yet another interception which Tampa Bay again converted into a touchdown. The Bucs second TD off a turnover of the day was a 19 yard reception by fullback-turned-halfback-turned-receiver Mike Alstott, whose 40 yard TD run in the first match up of the season for these two teams turned the tide for Tampa Bay in that game. With the score at 17-7, and Green Bay struggling to make offensive headway, clouds loomed over the heads of the Packer fans.
It seemed as though, after the first Green Bay, drive which resulted in a touchdown, the Tampa Bay defense concentrated on shutting down the passing game, and did so successfully. That, however, left the run defense soft, a defense that had already been short shifted by the deactivation of tackle Anthony McFarland. But for the Green fumble, the running game was the only
The fourth quarter saw the resumption of offensive futility for both squads. With just under 7 minutes to play in the game, embattled Buccaneer kicker Martin Gramatica seemed to have put the game out of reach by nailing a 49 yard field goal. With the score 20 to 14, the Packers needed a touchdown to win.
The Packers couldn’t do anything on the ensuing drive and punted the ball away without achieving a first down. The Packers defense returned the favor on the Buccaneers and with little over 3 minutes remaining in the game, Mark Royals punted the ball to Allen Rossum. Rossum, the Packer’s premier kick and punt returner, had missed 4 of Green Bay’s first six games with an injury. With an assortment of players returning kicks and Antonio Freeman returning punts in Rossum’s absence, the Packer return game fell to last in the league. On this day, however, with the game on the line, Rossum was determined to make up for lost time. Fielding the ball on his own 45 yard line, Rossum sprinted up the middle of the field through gaping holes opened by the Green and Gold clad blockers.
Without the benefit of field position that the Buccaneers defense had given him earlier in the game, Brad Johnson could not sustain any kind of drive in the waning minutes of the game. By virtue of yet another outstanding game by Packers RB Ahman Green, who amassed over 200 yards from scrimmage, and the timely ‘return’ of the diminutive Allen Rossum, Green Bay took it’s 11th consecutive game from Tampa Bay at Lambeau Field.