• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Griese, Bucs aim for third straight win vs. Packers

Sep 23, 2008 - 8:54 PM Green Bay (2-1) at Tampa Bay (2-1), 1:00 pm EDT

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Brian Griese appears to have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the right track.

Griese, who replaced Jeff Garcia after the season opener, will try to the lead the Bucs to their third consecutive victory when they host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

A career journeyman, Griese stunned his former team with a career performance last week, rallying Tampa Bay to a 27-24 overtime victory over the Chicago Bears.

"(Griese's) a guy who's cool and calm as anyone I've met," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "He's got that kind of confidence in himself and that's what I love about him. He doesn't get rattled."

Matt Bryant kicked a 21-yard field goal with 4:21 left in overtime after Griese and Antonio Bryant hooked up for a 38-yard completion two plays earlier.

Griese, who already had helped Tampa Bay (2-1) overcome a 10-point deficit with 3 1/2 minutes left, orchestrated a 90-yard drive on their second overtime possession, which was sustained when Bears cornerback Charles Tillman was guilty of an unnecessary roughness penalty on a third-down incomplete pass deep in Tampa Bay territory.

The Packers are coming off their first loss of the Aaron Rodgers era, falling to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-16, last Sunday night.

Rodgers completed 22-of-39 passes for 290 yards - with nearly half of those coming after the Cowboys built a comfortable lead. He also had a 1-yard scoring run with 2:11 left to play.

Green Bay's defense was not impressive in that one, surrendering 218 rushing yards to the Cowboys' two-back system of Marion Barber and rookie Felix Jones.

"Well, statistically, they put up big numbers," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Anytime someone runs for 200 yards, that's significant. They were able to run the ball for four quarters and kind of wear our defense down."

Tampa Bay, which uses Ernest Graham and Warrick Dunn at running back, will hope for similar results.