Packers vs. Buccaneers: The History of Their NFL Rivalry

Who are the Packers and Buccaneers?

The Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are professional American football teams in the National Football League, or NFL. Green Bay joined the league in 1921. Tampa Bay entered in 1976 as an expansion team, meaning a newly added club. ¹

Their different beginnings help explain why the teams’ shared history is not simply a story of two old, constant rivals. The Packers had already experienced major periods of success before Tampa Bay joined the league. The Buccaneers, by contrast, began with the challenge of building a roster as a new franchise. ¹

How did their rivalry begin?

The teams first met during the 1976 season. Green Bay won 13–0, one of the Buccaneers’ losses in a difficult first season. Tampa Bay finished that year without a win. ¹

The matchup took on more importance the next season, when the NFL placed both clubs in the NFC Central division alongside the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Division opponents generally meet regularly during the season, so the Packers and Buccaneers played each other twice a year for much of their time in the same division. ¹

The rivalry was sometimes called the “Battle of the Bays,” a reference to the place names in both teams’ identities. The source also records a more mocking nickname from an era when both clubs had lengthy struggles. That label is best understood as a product of the teams’ history, not as a description of the rivalry today. ¹

What changed when the NFL realigned its divisions?

The NFL reorganized its divisions in 2002. Tampa Bay moved to the NFC South, while Green Bay remained in the NFC North, ending the teams’ regular twice-a-season schedule as division rivals. ¹

After that change, they could still meet in regular-season games under the league’s scheduling system, or in the playoffs. The teams did meet in the 2020 NFC Championship game. Tampa Bay won 31–26 and went on to win Super Bowl LV in 2021. ¹

That history matters because it gives the matchup more context than a single game: fans may be recalling a former division rivalry, a playoff contest, or the teams’ broader records against one another. Their schedules are no longer tied together in the way they were when they shared a division.

What does the rivalry mean to an ordinary reader?

For someone following the NFL casually, the simplest point is that Packers–Buccaneers is a recurring matchup with a long shared history, but it is not a yearly division rivalry now. The teams’ meetings can still draw interest because of that past and because they have faced each other in the playoffs. ¹

The available source gives an overall series record through the 2025 season, but it also reports a later 2026 meeting without giving a date or details beyond the result. Those statements do not provide enough information to establish the series record as of October 6, 2026. This explainer therefore does not present a current all-time tally. ¹