Good afternoon, everyone. On Sunday afternoon/evening, the Green Bay Packers were looking to add their 9th win of the season at the friendly confines of Lambeau Field. Their opponent on Sunday was the Los Angeles Rams, who were coming out of their bye week rested and ready to go. It’s safe to say that the Packers took care of business at home to get to 9-3 on the season. Want to know what exactly happened? Let’s find out now.
The Packers defense started out great by forcing the Rams to punt on their first possession after only 5 plays. The punt by Johnny Hekker pinned Green Bay to their own 6 yard line. From there, the Packers offense went down the field on a time-consuming drive that should have resulted in points. The 15-play drive lasted 8 minutes and 8 seconds as the Packers had no problem getting first downs. The drive unfortunately stalled at the Rams 38 after an incomplete pass by Aaron Rodgers that was intended for Allen Lazard. Mason Crosby was initially called upon for a field goal attempt, but the Packers called timeout and brought out Corey Bojorquez to punt the ball to the Rams 15. 2 plays later, Matthew Stafford (who was making his first start at Lambeau Field as a Ram) was sacked by Rashan Gary and fumbled the ball. The ball was recovered by Preston Smith, who returned it to the Rams 6. Three plays later, Aaron Rodgers was able to get past Jalen Ramsey and reach the corner of the end zone for the Packers’ first touchdown of the game. The extra point kick was good, giving the Packers a 7-0 lead with 2:11 left in the first quarter. The Rams tried to go for it on fourth and 1 during their next drive, but Darrell Henderson was stopped short by Adrian Amos, giving the Packers the ball at the Rams 29. The Packers offense wasn’t able to get another touchdown on the board, but they at least set Mason Crosby up for a 45-yard field goal. The kick started veering to the left, but the wind pushed it to the right and through the uprights. The score was now 10-0 just into the second quarter. The Rams only needed three plays to answer back with a touchdown to cut the lead to 3 points. On third and 8 from the Rams 19, Matthew Stafford connected with Van Jefferson for a 79-yard touchdown pass in which Jefferson was all alone against Chandon Sullivan. The extra point kick was good, cutting the Green Bay lead to 10-7 with 12:42 left in the half. During the next drive, the Packers offense got into scoring range quickly with a third down pass completion from Rodgers to Randall Cobb, who caught the ball near midfield and ran all the way to the Rams 14 yard line (I was hoping that he would go for a touchdown on that play). Unfortunately, the drive stalled after that big play. Rodgers threw incomplete on third and 5 from the 9, forcing Green Bay to settle for a 28-yard field goal, which Mason Crosby made to give the Packers a 13-7 lead with 9:40 left. The Packers defense was able to force the Rams to punt after 3 plays, but disaster struck when Randall Cobb muffed the punt and lost the ball. The fumble was recovered by Robert Rochell at the Green Bay 25. Thankfully, the defense was able to hold the Rams to only a field goal. There was a trick play touchdown pass that went from Cooper Kupp to Van Jefferson, but Jefferson was clearly out of bounds (even though the ref who was right there signaled touchdown). The field goal from 36 yards away was made by Matt Gay, cutting the lead once again to three points. Even though an illegal block penalty on the kick return forced the Packers to start their next drive at their own 11, they had no problem moving the ball down the field. On the first play, Rodgers found Randall Cobb for a 27-yard pass completion that got them to the 38. 3 plays later, Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for a deep pass completion that Adams took to the Rams 11. The drive ended 2 plays later when Rodgers connected with Cobb for a 7-yard touchdown pass that (with the extra point by Mason Crosby) increased the lead to 10. That lead was once again cut to three points after another touchdown by the Rams. This drive for Los Angeles was an 8-play drive that took less than 3 minutes. There were a few plays that the Rams did not huddle at all to make sure the defense doesn’t have time to relax. The drive ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Henderson. The extra point kick was good, cutting the lead to 20-17 with 1:28 left in the first half. Even though the Packers had no timeouts left, there was plenty of time for Rodgers and the offense to attempt to score points before halftime. This time, though, the Packers were unable to put up any points and punted away to the Rams. A kneel-down by Stafford ended the half with the score at 20-17 in Green Bay’s favor.
At the halftime break, Charles Woodson’s name was added to the Ring of Honor. He played with the Packers from 2006-2012 and was a major part of the Super Bowl XLV Championship team in 2010. David Baker from the Pro Football Hall of Fame was there to give him his Ring of Excellence. All of it was great to see, not just for the fans in attendance, but at home as well. Hopefully LeRoy Butler gets his name put up next season (he should have been in with Woodson).
The Packers offense started the second half strong by going on a lengthy drive that took nearly 8 minutes off the clock. During this drive, they overcame a first and 22 that was caused by a blindside block penalty against Lucas Patrick. Once they got to midfield in the drive, AJ Dillon was a focal point on most of the plays. The 13-play drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown catch by AJ Dillon. For the celebration, Dillon did the robot with left tackle Yosh Nijman, which was awesome to see. The extra point kick by Mason Crosby was good, giving the Packers a 27-17 lead with 7:18 left in the third quarter. The two teams then exchanged punts, with each team going three and out. Something great happened on the punt by Corey Bojorquez. As the Rams’ J.J. Koski was returning the punt, he was stripped of the ball by Dominique Dafney. The fumble was recovered by Krys Barnes at the Rams 28. He only returned the fumble one yard, but the turnover still gave the Packers prime field position. What happened next was 9 quick points for Green Bay. After Mason Crosby made a 29-yard field goal to increase the lead to 13, the Rams started their next drive eager to bounce back. Instead, Matthew Stafford threw a pass directly to Rasul Douglas, who took the pick all the way for a touchdown (plus a Lambeau Leap). For some reason, the Packers decided to go for two after the pick-six. The pass fell incomplete, leaving the score at 36-17. During the following possession for the Rams, Rasul Douglas almost had another interception of Stafford. A couple plays after the dropped interception, Stafford found Odell Beckham, Jr. for a 54-yard touchdown pass that (with a successful 2-point conversion) cut the lead to 11 points with 14:52 left in the game. The Packers and Rams then exchanged two punts each on their drives. Then with 6:24 left, the Packers were able to get into scoring range. From their own 45, they were able to get to the Rams 24 with a mix of run and pass (plus AJ Dillon running all over people). They were unable to score anything after an incomplete pass on third down and a missed field goal by Mason Crosby. What was worse was that the ball hit the left upright and bounced out. The Rams were then able to get a field goal to cut the lead to 8. During this drive, Stafford got lucky when Eric Stokes dropped an easy pick-six. The field goal gave the Rams a slight chance of tying the game with an onside kick. Thankfully, Adrian Amos was able to recover the onside kick, which didn’t even travel 10 yards. After a kneel-down by Rodgers, the game was over with the final score of 36-28 in Green Bay’s favor.
With the win, the Packers are now 9-3 on the season. I was impressed with the total effort that the Packers displayed on Sunday in front of their home crowd. The first thing that I will talk about when it comes to the offense is the way the offensive line played on Sunday. Entering this game, Elgton Jenkins was lost for the season with a torn ACL, which he suffered against the Vikings the previous week. In addition, David Bakhtiari and Josh Myers are still not back for Green Bay. Here was the lineup from left to right: Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Jr, Lucas Patrick, Royce Newman, and Billy Turner. That group of five linemen allowed zero sacks to the likes of Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Leonard Floyd. Donald, in particular, was so frustrated that he choked Lucas Patrick without getting flagged for it in the fourth quarter. The one sack that they did allow was when Aaron Rodgers was running out of the pocket and got tripped up by Greg Gaines. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, he played great on Sunday despite not practicing that much due to the toe injury. In addition to throwing for 307 yards and 2 touchdowns, he was able to fool Jalen Ramsey and get past him with a pump fake as he was going for his touchdown run. Rodgers wasn’t the only one that got the best of Ramsey. Davante Adams was able to catch each pass when he was covered by him. Adams finished with 8 catches for 104 yards, including a 43-yard catch and run that set up Randall Cobb’s touchdown catch in the second quarter. Cobb added 4 catches for 95 yards and that touchdown until he left the game with a groin injury. Marquez Valdes-Scantling added 50 yards on 4 catches, while AJ Dillon added 21 yards and a touchdown on 5 catches. Dillon had a fantastic game on Sunday, running through the Rams defense and just having fun on the football field. His robot celebration in the end zone with Yosh Nijman was perfectly choreographed and fun to watch. My favorite moment with AJ Dillon in this game was when he ran over Rams safety Taylor Rapp during a run play. Aaron Jones was able to return to action, adding 23 yards on 10 carries. I was disappointed that Allen Lazard wasn’t able to get a few catches, including one that I thought he caught with his elbow. Despite messing up on a couple of red zone opportunities, I thought that the offense had an overall great game. Hopefully they get much better (and healthier) after the bye week.
Even with the fact that the defense gave up some points in garbage time, I thought that the unit played great on Sunday. The defensive front dominated the Rams offensive line through most of this game. Kenny Clark and Rashan Gary each got a sack of Matthew Stafford, with Gary’s sack being a strip-sack (with the fumble being recovered by Preston Smith). Clark, in particular, made a few awesome plays on Sunday, stopping a couple of run plays at the line of scrimmage despite being double-teamed. Krys Barnes led the team with 9 total tackles and a fumble recovery on the punt return that was a precursor to the 9 quick points that the Packers scored. Rasul Douglas made a great play on the pick-six, which was awesome to see. He himself had 6 tackles and 4 pass break-ups in addition to the pick-six. He almost had another interception that bounced off his hands and chest. Eric Stokes almost got into the action as well with what should have been a pick-six in the fourth quarter. Adrian Amos made an awesome play on the fourth down stop of Darrell Henderson that set up a field goal. Speaking of that fourth down stop, it was desperate for the Rams in the second quarter. It was obvious that Sean McVay got out-coached by Matt LaFleur again (plus Joe Barry). The secondary needs to do a much better job on getting those interceptions and not allowing those deep shot touchdowns. If it wasn’t for those 2 TDs, then the game would have been over. The Rams had to get some garbage time points to make the game closer than what it ultimately was. With the bye week now here, it’s a great opportunity for the defense to rest up and prepare for the final stretch of games (hopefully Jaire Alexander and Za’Darius Smith come back soon).
I just wish that the Special Teams unit doesn’t make me nervous for one week. The defense was able to force the Rams to settle for a field goal after the muffed punt by Randall Cobb. Amari Rodgers did ok on the kick returns, not fumbling the ball in the process. I was happy that there were no long returns given up that gave Los Angeles additional momentum. Corey Bojorquez punted well, pinning the Rams deep into their own territory a few times. One punt that was awesome was a 61-yarder that went all the way to the Rams 1 yard line before being downed by Equanimeous St. Brown. The Special Teams unit was able to force a turnover when Dominique Dafney stripped J.J. Koski of the football and Krys Barnes recovered it. Mason Crosby made every kick other than the one in the fourth quarter that bounced off the left upright (the wind helped with the first field goal). I was also thankful that no kicks were blocked on Sunday. I have hope that the Special Teams unit will get better after the bye week.
Before I forget, I have to say something about the dirty hit by Christian Rozeboom that hurt Darnell Savage during the onside kick. The hit was completely unnecessary and could have seriously injured Savage. Thankfully, Savage is ok after the game. I just wish that the hit by Rozeboom and the choke hold by Aaron Donald would have been flagged by the refs. Those 2 things showed that the Rams were frustrated and not good sports for losing.
Overall, it was an awesome win for the Packers as they now have their bye week. The goal for this week off to get rested and prepare for the final stretch of games (and the playoffs). Their first game after the bye week will be at Lambeau Field on December 12th against the Chicago Bears. I will talk more about this game later. Have a great day, everyone. Go Pack Go!
(Here are the highlights of the game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page.)
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