The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) couldn’t overcome two first-half interceptions by undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, falling to the Green Bay Packers (2-2) 17-14 on Sunday to remain winless on the season. 

Despite the two turnovers, the Buccaneers’ defense created two second-half turnovers of their own to give Daniels a chance at the end of the game. 

The Packers opened the second half by taking a 17-7 lead on a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jordan Love to tight end Tucker Kraft, but neither team could get much going on offense until the end of the third quarter.

After getting the ball back on a Packers’ punt with 6:30 left in the third, Daniels drove the Buccaneers to the Green Bay 10-yard line with his arms and legs. On third-and-7, the rookie registered his first-career touchdown pass with a 10-yard strike to Kenneth Gainwell with 14:49 left in the game.

On the next drive the Packers were able to drive to the Buccaneers’ 2-yard-line, but on first-and-goal safety Tykee Smith punched the ball out of the hands of the Packers’ Kaleb Johnson and cornerback Zyon McCollum jumped on the loose ball with 9:07 left in the game. 

Although the Buccaneers had the momentum, Daniels and the offense only managed one first down and were forced to punt with 5:08 remaining. 

Two plays later the Tampa Bay defense struck again as cornerback Jacob Parrish made a diving interception on a Love pass attempt at the Tampa Bay 26 with 4:20 left in the game. Despite the better field position following the turnover, Daniels couldn’t lead the offense past the 50-yard-line and on fourth-and-11, his incomplete pass ended the Buccaneers’ chance of a comeback.

Daniels finished the day 19-of-27 passing for 148 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also added 55 yards on the ground. 

The loss gave Tampa Bay its first 0-4 start to a season since 2013, when the Buccaneers lost their first eight games.

The Kansas product’s first-career game got off to a sloppy start in the first half.

After the Buccaneers and Packers traded punts to open the game, Green Bay struck first. On Daniels’ second drive of the game with the Buccaneers driving, Green Bay safety Evan Williams stepped in front of a pass intended for Emeka Egbuka and made a sliding interception with 7:07 left. William’s interception was initially ruled as incomplete but was then overturned upon replay review, giving the Packers the ball at their own 32-yard-line.

On their ensuing drive, Green Bay converted on three fourth downs with Love hitting Matthew Golden for a 2-yard touchdown with 12:54 left in the first half to open the scoring and take a 7-0 lead.

Despite another three-and-out by the Buccaneers, Daniels got the offense going after Tampa Bay got the ball back with 10:38 left in the second quarter after a Packers’ punt. Thanks to a Sean Tucker 4th-and-1 conversion for a first down, Daniels led the Buccaneers to the 2-yard-line. Tucker then tied the game 7-7 with 5:13 left in the first half with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone.

The Tampa Bay defense forced another Green Bay punt with 3:22 left in the second quarter and while the Buccaneers looked poised to answer with a score, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper gave the Packers their second interception of the half on a Daniels’ pass intended for Kameron Johnson with 34 seconds left in the first half. 

Kicker Trey Smack then gave Green Bay the lead again 10-7 with a 58-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

In the first half the Buccaneers and Packers combined for just 257 total yards of offense and went 1-of-11 on third down.

Tampa Bay will have a short week as they will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys (2-2) on Thursday Night Football.