Packers Scrape By Rams in an Ugly Win Out West, and I'm Not Sorry About It

 

The Packers snuck away with an ugly 24-19 win in Los Angeles against the Rams. Let’s break down what happened.

Jordan Love kicked off the game with a bomb to Jayden Reed, followed by Josh Jacobs finally finding the end zone for his first TD of the season. But, the Packers' run defense? Yikes. Kyren Williams, the Rams’ do-it-all back, answered with a TD of his own.

Edgerrin Cooper made his first NFL sack, forcing a Rams punt. Then, the Brett Favre 2.0 experience with Love continued—throwing a pick-six while trying to avoid a safety. The Rams botched the extra point which I’ll be honest made me feel a little better about pick-six.

The Packers’ offense followed up with a drive down to the Rams’ 19-yard line where Love chucked a bad backward pass to make it third and twenty. It ended up being fourth and long. On marched out Brayden Narveson who with ice in his veins, nailed the field goal, making it only 10-13 at halftime.

To start the second half, the Packers' D came alive right from the beginning. Kingsley Enagbare knocked the ball out of Kyren Williams' hands, and Xavier McKinney, who’s basically a turnover magnet, scooped it up for his fifth takeaway in five games. Love then hit Tucker Kraft for a 66-yard TD, putting the Pack ahead 17-13 to kickstart the half. Momentum, baby!

That momentum kept rolling. The Packers' defense came back strong, and Xavier McKinney snagged his fifth interception in five games! This guy is playing at an elite level. In fact, McKinney has recorded an interception in each of his last six games, setting the longest streak in NFL history. The Packers’ may have themselves the biggest signing off the offseason with this guy.

The Packers' offense was rolling at this point. Jayden Reed opened the drive with a big gain, and Josh Jacobs powered the team into the red zone. Then, Tucker Kraft struck again with a touchdown on a tight end screen from Jordan Love to make it 24-13.

          The only frustrating thing up to this point with the Packers in this game has mainly been the run defense. It doesn’t help that Devonte Wyatt was hurt, but they have to be better. Give credit where credit is due as well with their penalty problems. They only had three in this game for fourteen yards up to this point.

          But to end the third quarter, the defensive line stepped up in a big way. Specifically, Karl Brooks sacked Matthew Stafford, forcing the Rams to punt on fourth down. The Packers entered the fourth quarter after a dominating third quarter performance, building momentum on both sides of the ball.

          The Packers’ offense kicked off the fourth quarter with a long drive, eating up the clock. Jordan Love converted a crucial third-and-long with a scramble just past midfield. He then channeled his inner Aaron Rodgers, drawing a penalty on the Rams’ defense for a fresh set of downs. This was great clock management by LaFleur, snapping the ball with just seconds left on the play clock. But the drive ended poorly with a costly penalty, losing yards and forcing the Packers to punt, giving the Rams a chance to close the gap.

          The Packers' defense came out needing just one thing, stop the run. But, of course, they couldn't. Even though they had shut out the Rams so far in the second half, they started to struggle. Matt Stafford began picking apart the defense, connecting with his no-name receivers. If there's one quarterback you don’t want to give an edge to, it’s Stafford, a guy who has the most comeback wins of any QB ever. A pass interference call put the Rams on the 1-yard line, leading to a Stafford TD pass to Demarcus Robinson. The Rams went for two, but the Packers' defense stepped up big and made the stop, keeping it a five-point lead.

          The Packers got the ball back, and Josh Jacobs came through with a huge run for a first down, forcing the Rams to burn a timeout. Faced with a third-and-ten, the Rams used their second timeout. Then, Brett Favre 2.0—aka Jordan Love—unleashed a deep bomb to Dontayvion Wicks, but just missed him, leading to a punt. The defense was back under pressure. On a crucial fourth-and-one, the Rams converted, but after a review overturned a catch, the clock hit 1:23 after a 10-second runoff.

In the face of adversity, the Packers defense came alive. Preston Smith and Karl Brooks sacked Stafford on third down, and on fourth-and-five, they brought the heat with Edgerrin Cooper, forcing an incompletion. S/O rookie Evan Williams who was all over in coverage as the Packers escape with a win on the West Coast.

It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless! This team is far from perfect, with plenty of mistakes to clean up. Add the injuries and Romeo Doubs' suspension going into this game, they have faced a ton of adversity to start this season. Jordan Love was injured to start the season and they rallied behind Malik Willis for two wins. These challenges will only bring the guys closer together in the long run. Next up, they take on the Cardinals, who are coming off a huge win against the 49ers in San Francisco.

Soak in that Victory Monday tomorrow everybody!

Real Packer Fans Know


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