Rodgers vs. the Bucs: How Legend has Fared Against Buccaneers

Football fans don't have much longer to appreciate Steelers' starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Sunday will be the last time the legendary QB faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers., unless some how both teams advance to the Super Bowl.

For as polarizing as No. 12 (now No. 8) has become during his 22-year career, nobody with any sense would deny that he's one of the greatest quarterbacks ever and will be in the Hall of Fame just as soon as he's eligible.

Which is part of why Jan. 24, 2021 was one of the greatest days in Buccaneers history.

It was the NFC Championship Game. The warm-weather Bucs traveled to "The Frozen Tundra" in late January to face Rodgers, who, despite being 37, was at his best and on his way to his third of four MVP awards. Despite this, the Bucs controlled the game, leading 28-10 in the third quarter, and held off a late Packers comeback attempt to win, 31-26 (assisted by Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur's odd choice to kick a field goal near the goal line).

The Bucs wound up winning that year's Super Bowl. Rodgers hasn't been that close to the Super Bowl since, and now is playing out his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who Tampa plays Sunday at 1.

If the Bucs beat the Steelers and Rodgers holds to his word of this year being his last, he'll finish his career with a 3-5 record against Tampa.

To give an idea of how long Rodgers has been in the league, his first game against the Bucs was when Jon Gruden was still Tampa's coach.

Tampa won that game, 30-21, and Rodgers didn't play well, ending the day 14-27 for 165 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The Bucs fired Gruden after that season and replaced him with Raheem Morris, who went 3-13 in year one. One of those three wins was against the Packers. Again, Rodgers played poorly, going 17 of 35 for 266 yards, the same two touchdowns and three interceptions and taking six sacks in a 38-28 loss that improved the Bucs to 1-7.

Rodgers played much better against the Bucs in 2011.

Amid his first MVP campaign, Rodgers went 23 of 34 for 299 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in a 35-26 win.

The Pack returned to Tampa in 2014, four days before Christmas.  

Again, Rodgers got the best of them, completing 31 of 40 passes for 318 yards, a touchdown and no picks in a 20-3 romp.

That would be the last time Rodgers would meet the Bucs until 2020, when the Bucs got their first of two wins over Green Bay with a 38-10 romp at Raymond James.

Rodgers' most recent meeting against the Bucs took place in 2022, and he won that one, going 27 of 35 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and a pick in an ugly 14-12 win in Tampa.

Now, the 1-4 Bucs need to beat Rodgers and the Steelers to have anybody feeling hopeful about the playoffs.

Rodgers' coach in Pittsburgh, Mike McCarthy, was Green Bay's boss for the first four meetings between Rodgers and Tampa.