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Highlights from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ NFC Championship win over the Green Bay Packers

The Bucs will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LV.

NFC Championship - Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Green Bay Packers Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are officially Super Bowl-bound after defeating the Green Bay Packers, 31-26, at Lambeau Field.

This will go down as one of the better NFC Championships in recent memory. There was plenty of big moments, crazy plays, and questionable calls to talk about for a long time.

Let’s revisit the best moments —or worst depending on which side you’re on— from Tampa Bay’s NFC Championship win over Green Bay.


Mike Evans puts the Bucs in the lead with the first touchdown of the game

Tampa Bay converted three 3rd downs on this drive. One of them was a deep pass to Evans and the other was this touchdown pass, which puts the Bucs up, 7-0 early in the first quarter.

Shaquil Barrett gets home and ends the Packers’ first drive

And guess what? Vita Vea was in on this play. It was good to see last year’s sack leader and the Bucs’ former first-round draft pick get in on the action early.

Tom Brady gets sacked by Kenny Young

The Bucs converted a 3rd and 14 and were on the move, but Young ended all hopes of any type of score with this sack on 3rd and long.

Jason Pierre-Paul gets in on the sack party

He gets around Billy Turner for the second sack on Rodgers and the third combined sack of the first quarter.

Aaron Rodgers and Marquez Valdes-Scantling hit the Bucs for a 50-burger

This is the epitome of playoff football and just an excellent throw by Rodgers. He hits MVS in stride and the Packers are able to tie the game up at seven points apiece in the second quarter.

Chris Godwin redeems himself with a ridiculous catch

The fourth-year receiver has had some big-time struggles with holding onto the ball during the postseason and he dropped a wide-open pass on the 2nd down before this play. Godwin made up for the drop with this insane catch, however, which helped set up Tampa Bay’s next touchdown.

“Playoff Lenny” dishes out the run of a lifetime

Leonard Fournette has been a difference-maker during the postseason and it was never more apparent than on this play that gave the Bucs a 14-7 lead.

JPP gets to Rodgers....again

The Bucs defensive line feasted with 3.0 sacks in the first half. Two of them belonged to JPP. This was his second.

Sean Murphy-Bunting gets continues his hot postseason play

This dude has been lights out in terms of making plays since the last couple weeks of the regular season. He comes up with this clutch pick to stop the Packers from having any shot at points before halftime.

Brady and the Bucs get risk-ay and it pays off

The Bucs went for it on 4th and 3 with just a few seconds left on the clock before this play and it paid off. The young man Brady calls “Scooter” —Scotty Miller— torches Kevin King for a touchdown right before halftime to give the Bucs a 21-10 lead.

Jordan Whitehead forces his second fumble of the day

The first one was recovered by the Packers, but Aaron Jones wasn’t so lucky this time around (Whitehead actually forced him to fumble the first time around, too). Devin White scoops it up and moves Tampa Bay into scoring position.

Cameron Brate continues to have his impact felt

The Bucs run the play fake and the Packers bite. The end result is a wide-open Brate that puts the Bucs up, 28-10, early in the third quarter.

Green Bay cuts into Tampa Bay’s lead

In dire need of some points, Rodgers led an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a touchdown pass to Robert Tonyan to cut the Bucs’ lead to 28-17.

Adrian Amos picks off Tom Brady

It’s tough to figure out what happened on this throw, but the result is the only thing that matters. Amos forces the first Tampa Bay turnover of the game and just the second of the postseason.

Davante Adams makes it a one-score game

The Packers were able to turn the Amos interception into a touchdown, but they couldn’t convert the two point conversion. Nevertheless, they were able to make it a one-score game after this touchdown.

Jaire Alexander is the recipient of a tipped pass

This was a major game-changer for the Bucs. Brady and co. were in scoring range, but Brady overthrows Evans. The ball bounces off his hands and into the arms of Alexander.

Shaquil Barrett ends the Packers drive with a sack

Barrett picked the perfect time to have the first multi-sack game in his postseason career. He ends any threat of Green Bay points with this sack on third down.

Brady throws his third pick of the game

Darnell Savage comes unblocked off the edge and Brady just has to launch a prayer. Alexander is on the receiving end, again, for this second interception of the game.

Shaq Barrett gets his third sack of the game

The anticipation of the Packers snap count is on another level, here. Barrett blows by Wagner and takes down Rodgers for a sack on first down. The Packers would end up punting the ball away due to this play.

Rob Gronkowski takes Tampa Bay into scoring range

This is how you make a mark with your first reception of the game. Gronk takes the Bucs into field goal range on this play.

Ryan Succop makes the game-sealing kick

Gronk’s reception led to a 46-yard field goal from Succop to put the Bucs up, 31-23. Green Bay would drive down to Tampa Bay’s eight-yard line on the next drive, but opted to kick a field goal on 4th and goal as opposed as going for the touchdown and then the subsequent two-point conversion to tie the game. A defensive pass interference call on Green Bay’s Kevin King on 3rd and 4 would give the Bucs the first down they needed to close out the game. Tampa Bay would go on to win, 31-26.