TAMPA, Fla. - The Green Bay Packers had been flirting with trouble all season long, even in their four wins.

They had demonstrated they possessed an offense that was dangerous, but could slow to an idle at times - particularly when it hemorrhaged sacks.

They had shown problematic special teams play, a weakness that first showed up on punt coverage but had begun to creep over to kickoffs.

They had displayed an inability on defense to keep opponents from scoring touchdowns with high regularity once they cracked the red zone.

Sunday, all those factors joined forces - and were bolstered by another, turnovers on offense - to play a major role in a humbling loss for the Packers. A team that began the season with Super Bowl aspirations, Green Bay blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead in falling 38-28 to the previous winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

"It's always the same problems, week after week, and that's what you want to get out of," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "You come in every game, and the first thing someone says is, 'We could have done this different, we could have done this.' But it's week after week, and you get tired of hearing it. By the time you stop hearing it, the season's over and it's a bad season. And we just need to learn how to win, that's about it."

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked six times - all came in the second half by a defense that entered the game with only 11 on the season - to push the Packers' league-leading total to 37, while the defense allowed the Buccaneers to score on all three of their red-zone opportunities.

The win ended an 11-game losing streak for Tampa Bay - its last win was last Nov. 30 against New Orleans - which was wearing its retro creamsicle orange uniforms on a day the franchise honored Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon and its 1979 playoff team.

Such an alarming loss didn't look likely for the Packers when Rodgers, who completed 17 of 35 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns against a season-high three interceptions, scrambled for a 12-yard score to give the Packers a 28-17 lead with 12 minutes, 54 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

But Tampa Bay got a boost when Clifton Smith ripped off an 83-yard runback to the Green Bay 17-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later, Buccaneers rookie quarterback Josh Freeman - making his first start - found tight end Kellen Winslow in the back of the end zone. Tampa Bay missed its two-point conversion try, but still was within five.

"They kind of got the momentum back and we couldn't get another score to turn the momentum back to us," Rodgers said.

The Packers' offense stalled on its next drive, and Freeman led the Buccaneers 72 yards in eight plays - a drive that was aided by an iffy illegal contact penalty on Green Bay linebacker A.J. Hawk that wiped out his interception - and put Tampa Bay in front for the first time with a 7-yard pass on fourth-and-4 to receiver Sammie Stroughter, who beat cornerback Jarrett Bush on the play. Freeman found receiver Michael Clayton open in the back of the end zone on the ensuing two-point try, giving the Buccaneers a 31-28 lead.

Green Bay's next series featured two sacks and a holding penalty, and its next possession - after a Tampa Bay punt - went even worse.

Buccaneers defensive end Stylez G. White bull-rushed past left guard Daryn Colledge for Tampa Bay's final sack of the day on second-and-10 from the Packers' 13. Two plays later, Rodgers threw his third interception of the game, one that tipped off receiver Donald Driver's hands and was plucked out of the air by Buccaneers free safety Tanard Jackson, who weaved his way for a

35-yard touchdown that sealed it.

"The disappointing thing was how many opportunities we had to really put the game out of reach and we didn't," Colledge said. "We didn't capitalize. We had a bad play on offense or a bad play on defense or a bad special teams play. When a team is playing with that much inconsistency, it's hard to rely on it."

Green Bay finished with hefty advantages in total yards (404 to 279) and time of possession (35:17 to 24:43) and controlled play before halftime, with Rodgers hitting receiver James Jones for a 74-yard strike on the Packers' first possession and leading two lengthy touchdown drives. But the Packers never stretched their first-half lead beyond a touchdown, and played a major role in each of the Buccaneers' touchdowns.

The first - a 6-yard pass from Freeman to running back Derrick Ward - came two plays after Rodgers' first interception, while the second was off a blocked punt that cornerback Ronde Barber returned 31 yards.

"Games like this, you should close them out," defensive tackle Ryan Pickett said. "You give a team that hasn't won a game confidence in the fourth quarter, they'll make some plays to beat you. They'll get the momentum and beat you. We had opportunities to put this team away early, later, we never did, and we paid for it."