Whether you win in a blowout or on a penalty and a tipped ball on a two-point conversation attempt (like the Green Bay Packers did in Week 3 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), it also counts the same in the standings. The 2022 Packers Week 3 Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady wasn’t quite the all-time great quarterback shootout many of us hoped for. But it was a big win for Green Bay which kept pace with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears in the NFC North. The big Packers Week 3 takeaways are that this was a team win, and many players contributed. To beat Brady and the Bucs, though, these four players stepped up more than most.

4. Aaron Rodgers

Unfortunately, it’s not 2010 anymore. If it were, an Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady showdown would have been the best game on the NFL schedule this week. However, at a combined age of 83 (the second-oldest matchup in NFL history to Brady and Drew Brees in 2021), this game wasn’t the superstar QB showcase it would have been back then.

Still, one of the Packers Week 3 takeaways is that Rodgers can still win ballgames without being a 300-plus-yard, four-touchdown machine anymore.

The 38-year-old QB was an uber-efficient 27-of-35 for 255 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Those touchdowns came in the first half and stood up throughout the second to win the Packers the game.

Rodgers got this W throwing to a depleted WR group (more on that below) and did it without making many mistakes. That’s enough to make the list of Packers most responsible for the team’s Week 3 win.

3. De’Vondre Campbell

The overall Packers Week 3 game ball should go to the defense as a whole. The unit held the (admittedly banged-up) Buccaneers to just 12 points. Even without Julio Jones, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin, that’s still an accomplishment when facing Tom Brady.

The name of the game here, though, is to identify the Packers players most responsible for the win this week. So, the representative for the defense is linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.

Campbell is a seven-year veteran who had a breakout season in 2021 after several middling years with the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals. As a Packer, Campbell led the team in tackles last season with 146 and made his first All-Pro team.

Against the Buccaneers in the Packers Week 3 matchup, Campbell was once again all over the field and making his presence felt. He led all defensive players (on either team) with 14 tackles. And he made the biggest clutch play of the game for his squad, tipping the ball away from Brady’s intended receiver on the final two-point attempt to tie the game.

On a defense that played well all day and stifled a top NFL offense, Campbell stood out as the best of the bunch.

2. David Bakhtiari

Three-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari had played in one NFL game (last season’s Week 18) since Week 15 of 2020. He finally got on the field, protecting Aaron Rodgers’ blindside in this game, and that’s huge for the Green Bay QB.

Defenses sacked Rodgers seven times in the first two games of the season. However, in this game with both Bakhtiari and right tackle Elgton Jenkins back, the 38-year-old passer only went down once.

With solid protection in front of him, Rodgers put up his highest season totals in completions (27), completion percentages (77.1%), and yards (255).

It wasn’t quite a vintage Rodgers performance, but it was a solid one, and one that was good enough to get the job done vs. a good defense. And a lot of that has to do with Bakhtiari finally getting back on the field.

1. Romeo Doubs

As banged-up (and suspended) as the Buccaneers' pass-catching corps was, the Packers Week 3 WR group was nearly as bad.

The team put WR Sammy Watkins on injured reserve this week with a hamstring injury — keeping him pit until at least late October — and rookie second-round pick Christian Watson also sat with a sore hammy.

That left Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and fourth-round rookie Romeo Doubs as Aaron Rodgers’ primary weapons in the Packers Week 3 tilt.

Cobb was struggling himself. He missed practice this week with an illness. And the Buccaneers made it a point to shut down Lazard. That left Doubs as Rodgers’ best option, and the rookie responded.

Doubs ended the game with eight catches on eight targets for 73 yards and a touchdown. It was his first career TD and easily the best game of his short career.

Green Bay drafted Watson and Doubs this year to hopefully replace Davante Adams someday. Watson looks a ways away from that level. But the big Packers Week 3 takeaway is that Doubs is making his case early in the season to become that guy, which would be huge for the franchise.