Packers largely handled the Buccaneers in a forgotten NFC Central rivalry

Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty ImagesAfter breaking down the Green Bay Packers’ history with each of their three NFC North rivals earlier this week, there is one other former divisional rival whose history is worthy of analysis. In the days before the Houston Texans’ existence, the NFC North did not exist. Instead, the NFC Central featured five teams: the four that would form the North and a fifth, not-at-all-central team: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

More often than not, the Packers have had Tampa’s number, with the first meeting between the two franchises coming in 1977, the Bucs’ second season in the NFL and first in the division. For two and a half decades, these…