The weather was too nice for a game like that on Sunday at Lambeau Field. With all the momentum of winning two games without Jordan Love, the Packers had no answers early for Sam Darnold, Aaron Jones and Justin Jefferson as they skated off to a 28-0 lead before fans could crack their first Miller Lite. The turnovers, the pass rush and just mistake-riddled effort is not what we had in mind.

But even with the brutal start, the Packers made it more than interesting, getting to within 6 points for the Vikings were essentially able to put it away late in the fourth. Plenty to shake our heads about, plenty to build up on with a trip to SoFi and the Rams in the hopper.

And with that, let’s put the Purple Problems in the rear view until December and raise up the Periscope to look at the past, present and future of the Packers and Rams.

The Past

The Packers and Rams have met a surprisingly (at least to me) 99 times, with the first coming in 1937, a 35-10 Packers win over the then-Cleveland Rams. Recently, the Packers have dominated, winning nine of the last 10, with the last coming last season, a “meh” affair between Jordan Love and Brett Rypien at Lambeau Field.

Of the 99 wins, only three came in the playoffs. First, in 1967 in the Western Conference Championship, a 28-7 Packers pummeling, 2002, a 45-17 St. Louis Rams win, in which Brett Favre threw a billion picks against the Greatest Show on Turf team, and this week’s look-back.

The third, and only other, playoff match-up between the Packers and Rams took place on January 16, 2021, during the COVID lockdown season. After fans were allowed back in stadiums in a limited fashion, the Jared Goff Rams visited Green Bay in a game the Packers needed to host the NFC Championship the next week (yeah, not gonna talk about that one).

The Packers got the scoring started on a Mason Crosby field goal, which was quickly matched by a Matt Gay kick for a 3-3 score after the first. 

The second would get some more offense, though, when Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams from a yard out, then Rodgers took one in himself from the 1 to make it 16-3. LA would come back with a Van Jefferson touchown, and Crosby drilled one more kick to make it 19-10 at the break.

After an Aaron Jones goal line touchdown extended the lead early in the third, Ram’s back Cam Akers was able to match and close the gap at 25-18 going into the final quarter.

A defensive struggle most of the quarter, the Packers were able to put the nail in the coffin on a gorgeous play action touchdown from Rodgers to Allen Lazard from 58 yards out to seal the 32-18 win.

 

 

The Present

The Rams currently have one of their expected starting lineup available on the offensive line, tackle Rob Havenstein. They’re absolutely ravaged along the front, and it showed in a lackluster performance in their loss to the Bears. Furthermore, stud receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp will both be out this week. The straits are beyond dire for this team.

Matt Stafford is still Matt Stafford, though. Capable of commanding the game, take hits and moving the ball. He’s one of the league’s toughest, so pressuring him is the key. Stafford took 6 hits and 3 sacks from the Bears, so matching that sort of output will go a long way.

Defensively, the days of Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald are gone. Young players and journeymen across the board spell a major opportunity for Jordan Love to get back into his groove and keep that second half effort in last week’s game going.

The Packers, though, will be short-handed as well. With Christian Watson and Devonte Wyatt most likely out, they’ll be missing their big play threat and most consistent pass-rushing interior lineman.

While this game certainly looks winnable on paper, it’s still one of the league’s better quarterbacks at home (more on that in a moment). They Packers will need to limit penalties and mistakes to win this game.

The Future

3:25 Lombardi time, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California. The environment in SoFi is hardly a home field for the Rams, seemingly swarmed with opposing fans every week. I recall their last trip to LA, against the Chargers in a soccer stadium in 2019, was essentially a home game. I certainly expect that sort of advantage this week. Heck, maybe even forcing the home team into a silent count.

I expect this Packers team to come out much feistier and cleaner than the team who came out flat against Minnesota. This team just cannot get out of its own way, and needs to buck that trend if they’re going to compete for the division.

I anticipate that occurring this week and getting to 3-2. Running the ball, tackling and limiting penalties will be the key.