Buccaneers looking like their own worst enemy after loss to Packers

The picture of the day was one of Brady ducking under a potential sack and chugging -- not exactly sprinting -- for 18 yards on third down late in the third quarter, breaking his knee brace when he slid. He said later he saw a lot of green grass in front of him, but what he couldn't see was the holding penalty behind him that wiped out the play entirely. The drive ended with a punt, instead of continuing with the Bucs near midfield.

Brady joked that it is usually not a good thing. But this was more than that, symbolic of how many chances the Bucs had despite the absences, how very often they made it harder on themselves. The Bucs' defense was stellar, shutting out Aaron Rodgers in the second half. They allowed the Packers just two touchdowns on the day, forced two turnovers, including a fumble as the Packers were about to go in for a touchdown, and the Bucs could not capitalize.

"We didn't have to have those guys to win this ballgame," said a visibly frustrated coach Todd Bowles. "We just had to play smarter. We had chances to win this game. We shot ourselves in the foot. Talent had nothing to do with the way we shot ourselves in the foot."

Bowles was so annoyed that when he was asked about Gage's performance -- he caught 12 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown -- he replied that anytime a player fumbles, it takes away everything good he does.

The truth is that everything looked nearly as difficult for the Packers, who are not whole and not running smoothly either. Aaron Jones fumbled near the goal line in the second quarter and the Packers almost completely abandoned the run after that. Rodgers settled mostly for short passes, finishing with 27 completions for 255 yards. The anticipated aerial fireworks that had made this game so attractive when the schedule was announced were canceled by the absences and inexperience that cloud these teams right now.