Penalty-free is the way to be
The Bucs learned the hard way the damage penalties can inflict, and heading into Sunday, Arians harped on the need to play a cleaner game. After committing 11 penalties for 106 yards in the Oct. 8 loss in Chicago, the Bucs went the entire game against Green Bay without a charged penalty, marking just the second time in team history. They committed zero penalties in a 23-20 loss to Detroit on Dec. 18, 1983.

"(Arians) addressed the issue, everybody corrected themselves and looked in the mirror and we took care of what really beat us last week. We beat ourselves," linebacker Devin White said.

The Bucs had one offsetting penalty. An unnecessary roughness call on Ndamukong Suh for shoving Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the ground after he threw the ball into the turf. Rodgers was flagged for intentional grounding.

The Bucs entered the week as the league's most-penalized team with 42 penalties for 410 yards. Last season, they led the NFL with an average of 8.38 penalties a game.

“It's a big part of every team success," quarterback Tom Brady said. “It's not turning the ball over, and then not committing penalties, which puts you behind in down and distance and take you out of your runs and play actions. All those hurt, so you've got to be able to stay on track and stay hidden down in distance and that's that's the goal for the team."

Eduardo Encina, Tampa Bay Times, published 19 October 2020