Packers Use Familiar Hands to Best Recognize New-Looking Coaches

GREEN BAY, Wis. — At the beginning of November, the Los Angeles Rams were 7-1 and were looking to say goodbye to the first round of the playoffs. Building on this momentum, the team’s general manager, Les Snead, said: Trade for star linebacker Von Miller and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. After being released from the Cleveland Browns.

The Green Bay Packers took a more measured approach, though quarterback Aaron Rodgers has often said he wants the team to add more offensive weapons to their already strong roster. Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst did no notable mid-season additions despite the large number of players missing matches due to injury or testing positive for Covid-19.

On Sunday, when NFC rivals faced off at Lambeau Field, the Packers’ anger overtook the Rams’ strategy to win at all costs. In the second leg of the division’s qualifiers last season, the Packers this time defeated the Rams 36-28.

The Packers advanced to 9-3 and were half a game behind the Arizona Cardinals (9-2) for the best record in NFC. The Packers continue to tie the Cardinals if only the top ranked seed in each conference wins a first-round goodbye and the teams end with the same record due to their Week 8 win over Arizona.

Playing in freezing conditions, the Packers controlled the ball for most of the game and took advantage of several Rams mistakes to create an early lead that they never gave up. The Packers defense, which has produced the lowest home points in the league this season, suppressed the Rams’ pass attack for most of the game.

Despite their lousy roster that included Rodgers with a broken toe, the Packers controlled the pace of the game. Rodgers passed to Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Randall Cobb, all of whom received long receptions to set the scores. Cobb was one of Rodgers’ most reliable targets in his first eight seasons with the Packers before being released before the 2019 season. Rodgers lobbied the team for a trade for the slot buyer this July.

Adams, who caught eight for 104 yards, said after the game that Rodgers didn’t let his injury affect his game. Rodgers said he was stepped on in the fourth quarter after the game and had some pain in his injured toe.

“You can see on the side that it’s bothering him by his body language,” Adams said. But “she doesn’t let him get in the way.”

The Packers scored the first goal after Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford sent the ball deep into the Rams half. Rodgers defeated Rams corner player Jalen Ramsey to the end zone to give the Packers a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Later in the first half, Rodgers hooked up with Cobb for 54 yards and scored a touchdown from the Packers.

Rodgers scored 28 for 45 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns to go with a rushing score.

The Rams’ high-powered offense looked stunned for most of the game. Eager not to let the game slide prematurely like last year’s playoff game, Rams Coach Sean McVay chose to manage the ball fourth and 1st from the Los Angeles 29-yard line. However, while running back Darrell Henderson, Jr., he was stopped on the offensive line. The Packers scored a field goal four games later.

But the Rams have a strong passing play, which Stafford showed when he hit receiver Van Jefferson Jr. for a 79-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Rams also took advantage of a Packers error and added a field goal after Cobb floundered a pun saved by Robert Rochell.

Stafford was 21 for 38 passes for 302 yards. Scored for three touchdowns and an interception.

But Rodgers, who was the league’s most valuable player, looked relaxed the entire game and routinely got double coverage. In the second quarter, he found Adams at the sideline for a 43-yard completion. Two games later, he threw a 7-yard touchdown on Cobb to bring the Packers lead 20-10.

Before halftime, Stafford threw a 6-yard pass to Henderson for a touchdown to narrow the score 20-17, given the Packers had twice as many balls as the Rams.

The Packers used the same formula in the second half. Rodgers hit Valdes-Scantling for a 28-yard gain, then tied with tight end Josiah Deguara for a 12-yard completion on the fourth inning. Running back AJ Dillon caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to finish off a 13-game drive that consumed more than half of the third quarter.

The Packers made the game inaccessible in the third quarter with less than two minutes left when corner player Rasul Douglas jumped ahead of Rams receiver Cooper Kupp to pick up Stafford. Douglas rushed to the finish zone 33 yards untouched.

“I thought about getting a Lambeau Leap as soon as I got the ball,” Douglas said, referring to the tradition of Packers players to jump into the crowd after a score. “We’re a great team when we get turnovers. We feed off of that.”

Despite all the hype, the Rams’ big-name acquisitions didn’t have as much of an impact as Snead had hoped. Beckham targeted 10 once, catching five balls for 81 yards, including a touchdown at 54 yards.

Miller finished with five tackles.

I had a dispute with the Packers front office for all their pleas for offensive assistance. and in response to his provocative comments about Covid-19 Rodgers, 37, continues to perform like a star quarterback. His production is below his high pace last season, but Rodgers scored 23 goals in four interceptions and posted the fifth-highest quarterback rating in his 17-year career.

“It’s been a tough situation for all of us, but I think we’re feeling good right now,” Packers team president Mark Murphy said before the game. “He’s obviously playing at a high level and is a tremendous leader for our team.”