Good afternoon, everyone. On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers will be taking on the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round playoff game at Lambeau Field. In terms of playoff history, this is the third postseason matchup between these 2 teams. The first one was in 1967, when the Packers, led by head coach Vince Lombardi, defeated the LA Rams 28-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium in the Western Conference Championship game (this was before the NFL-AFL merger in 1970). The second one was when the Packers lost to the Rams in St. Louis by a score of 45-17 in the 2001 NFC Divisional Round. That game was unfortunately highlighted by 8 Green Bay turnovers, including 6 interceptions by Brett Favre. Saturday provides the Packers an opportunity to go 2-1 against the Rams in playoff games and to move on to the NFC Championship game, which would be the first one at home in Aaron Rodgers’ career. This game will also be the first head coaching matchup between the Rams’ Sean McVay and the Packers’ Matt LaFleur, who used to work together. Back in 2017, LaFleur was the offensive coordinator under McVay in Los Angeles. 3 seasons later, they are now against each other with a trip to the NFC Title game at stake. This game will also be in front of at least 8,000 fans (mainly season ticket holders) who were lucky enough to get tickets to the game. I have no doubt that the Packers will do their best to put on a show in front of those fans. As always, I will go over what the Packers need to do on offense, defense, and special teams to win Saturday’s contest. Without further delay, let’s get started.
On offense, it al starts with getting the running game going. With the Rams boasting the NFL’s top pass defense, it might be up to the running back trio of Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and AJ Dillon to perform very well. Not only do they need to run the ball efficiently, but they also need to be utilized in the passing game via screens and (maybe) wheel routes. I think that Aaron Jones, in particular, can be an X-Factor on Saturday against Los Angeles’ defense. For any of the running backs to be productive in any sense, the offensive line needs to do their part in creating the running lanes. I am sure that the linemen will get it done against the Rams defense, which includes the likes of Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd. When it comes to the passing game, the offensive line (which includes Corey Linsley, Billy Turner, and Elgton Jenkins) needs to protect Aaron Rodgers from too many pressures. Specifically, they have to keep Aaron Donald in check because he is capable of wrecking opposing offenses by himself. It will be a tough task considering that they are missing David Bakhtiari due to injury (plus the new signee Jared Veldheer due to a positive COVID-19 test). Considering how well they did against the Bears pass rush in Week 17, I think that they will be up to the task against the Rams pass rush. Keeping that pass rush in check can give Rodgers time to find an open receiver, even if it is on a check down to the running back. With the right blocking and missed tackles, those short passes can result in big gains and crucial third down conversions. Speaking of third down conversions, the Packers offense need to make plenty of those to sustain long drives that should result in touchdowns (especially in the red zone). With the potential that Davante Adams would be kept in check by the Rams secondary (mostly by Jalen Ramsey), the rest of the receivers need to step up. I would not be surprised if Allen Lazard, Robert Tonyan, or Marquez Valdes-Scantling has a big game on Saturday with plenty of clutch catches. What is extremely important for the receivers is for them to not drop any passes thrown by Rodgers. Any of those deep ball drops that has happened at some points in the 2020 regular season (mostly by Valdes-Scantling) cannot happen when there is an opening downfield for a potential game-changing TD. Regardless of how the Packers get their scores, the most important thing that they need to do is to avoid turning over the ball. Aaron Rodgers needs to avoid throwing interceptions, which he has done very well this season with only 5 on the season (fingers crossed). Any ball carrier needs to protect the ball from being punched out by any player on the Rams defense. As long as they avoid crucial mistakes, including turnovers and penalties, I think that the Packers offense will play well against Los Angeles.
On defense, the Packers need to stop the Rams rushing attack, which is led by Cam Akers. Akers ran for over 130 yards and a touchdown last week against the Seahawks in the Wild Card round. It is up to the Packers defense to make sure that Akers does not get that much production on Saturday afternoon. I think that Damon “Snacks” Harrison will play more than 12 snaps against Los Angeles and help the defensive front (which also includes Kenny Clark) stop the Rams’ rushing attack. In addition to the linemen, the linebackers need to do their part in tackling the ball carrier for minimum gain. It would be great if Krys Barnes and Kamal Martin play significant roles in the postseason for Green Bay. Keeping the run game in check can force the Rams to go one-dimensional on offense. Starting at QB for Los Angeles is Jared Goff, who had thump surgery a couple of weeks ago. Considering that the temperature in Green Bay will be in the 30s (in Fahrenheit) at kickoff, I think that Goff will have a bit of a hard time throwing the ball against the Packers defense. It will be up to the pass rush (which includes Rashan Gary, Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark) to get in his face and force errant throws that could be intercepted by anybody in the secondary, including Jaire Alexander, Adrian Amos, and Darnell Savage. If the pass rush is not able to get to Goff, the secondary needs to cover the Rams receivers well and not allow easy catches for first downs. I have a feeling that Jaire Alexander will play with plenty of intensity after being snubbed for first-team All-Pro (he was voted second team by the Associated Press). I would not be surprised if guys like Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan step up and make a few key plays. As always, the Packers defense needs to keep the Rams offense from converting third downs and scoring touchdowns too many times in the red zone. Getting stops and turnovers in clutch situations will be extremely important for the Packers on Saturday against Los Angeles’ offense. I have plenty of confidence that the defense will get the job done against the Rams offense, as long as they limit penalties and chunk plays (*knocks on wood*).
On Special Teams, it is crucial for the Packers to avoid turning the ball over in any way. On kickoffs, the Rams might do a strategy of kicking the ball short instead of kicking it out of the end zone. This would force the Packers return man (either Malik Taylor or Tavon Austin) to run back the kickoff. If this is the case on Saturday, then the returner needs to do his best to hold onto the ball and avoid losing it during the runback. If there is an opportunity on kickoffs or punts for a long return, which could potentially give the offense great field position, the returner needs to follow the blocks and evade tacklers on his way to a potential game-changing play (bonus points for the return being for a touchdown). On the other side, the Packers cannot allow any huge returns on either kickoffs or punts. On kicks that are not either touchbacks or fair catches, the Packers coverage unit needs to get off the blocks and tackle the returner before he breaks it open for a touchdown. There cannot be a situation where the kicker or punter is the last line of defense between the returner and the end zone. If that is unfortunately the case, either Mason Crosby or JK Scott needs to make the tackle instead of whiffing on it. Any big play on Special Teams can turn the tide of the game for either team. Hopefully the Packers get the better end of those plays. As always, Mason Crosby needs to make every single kick, especially in crunch time. I hope that JK Scott can punt the ball deep into Rams territory when he is called upon. For Hunter Bradley, the snaps need to be accurate on each field goal or punt attempt. What is extremely important for Green Bay is to keep the field goals and punts from being blocked at any point in the game. On the opposite side, the playoffs would be an awesome time for the Packers to block a punt or a field goal for a game-altering play (and for the crowd at Lambeau Field to go wild). The most important thing for Special Teams right now is to not screw up and give the opposing team any momentum that they can use to upset the Packers in the postseason. I have hope that the Special Teams unit will keep the mistakes to a minimum.
In my opinion, the Packers have what it takes to bring home the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The first step towards that goal is to beat the Rams on Saturday afternoon in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field. As long as mistakes are kept to a minimum on all sides of the football, Green Bay should be able to move on to the NFC Title game. Regardless of the outcome, I hope that the game is played clean with no additional injuries or COVID-19 cases. Even though Jared Veldheer tested positive, there were no close contacts within the rest of the team. Hopefully that stays the same come gamete (fingers crossed). I will be here for my post-game thoughts on either Sunday night or Monday no matter who wins the game. Have a great weekend, everyone. Go Pack Go!
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