It’s always a tough trip for any team to Lambeau in the winter and for the Rams it was no different. Mayfield magic was short lived, as he came back to earth this game in a struggling offensive performance. With this loss, the Rams are now eliminated from playoff contention, even though there was such a slim chance before. In the last three games, I think we’ll see more young players get starting roles and possibly rest some starters like Aaron Donald and Kupp for the rest of the season. Let’s go over the good, bad, and meh from yet another loss in Green Bay.
Good
Cam Akers
Akers further established himself as the RB1 in the offense as he received a 76% snap share and 85.7% of the carries at RB. He had a pretty solid game with nearly 100 total yards, as he was involved in all aspects on offense. It’s interesting to see that they were committed to Kyren Williams and now Akers has slowly taken over as the lead back. McVay was committed to the run early as usual even in third in long situations which is definitely a questionable move. The Packers run defense was much worse than their pass defense and Akers should have been used more especially because he was doing well. Akers looked like he’s nearly back to his rookie form after returning from injury which is great to see. I’d still expect for them to bring in some competition for Akers in the offseason, but for now he’s looking like a servicable starter.
Leonard Floyd
With the abscene of Aaron Donald, someone had to step up in the pass rush category and Floyd was that someone. Floyd is an interesting player in that you either get a game like this from or he is usually not noticeable. It’s pretty interesting that he had one of his best games this year without Donald in the middle, but he was able to consistently pressure Rodgers. Between Floyd and Gaines, the duo was able to contain Rodgers after relentless pursuit all night. The Rams have long looked for a great pairing across from Donald on defense and Floyd makes the case for that position every couple of games.
Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey has had an up and down season so far, but had a great game against the Packers. Him and the secondary were able to keep the Packers’ receivers in check for most of the game as well. Ramsey was involved in all levels of the defense bringing physicality to every play. He also was able to pry the ball away from Aaron Jones resulting in a turnover.
Bad
Penalties
The yellow flags were flying on Monday night resulting in 8 penalties for 76 yards against the Rams. Russ Yeast had a blatant facemask penalty on special teams which added to the many other that night. Penalties usually come in bunches and there were many, especially on the offensive line. Rob Havenstein drew a few and Coleman Shelton added to the bunch. The Rams are usually one of the least penalized teams in the NFL but they sometimes have games like this.
Interior Offensive Line
The interior of the line has struggled and this game was no different. Brian Allen went down early in the game resulting in a shift in personnel yet again. Allen and Noteboom were questionable investments in the offensive line in the offseason where it seems like that money could have been spent in other places. Matt Skura might be worse than Bobby Evans at the position and the interior will certainly benefit from Logan Bruss coming back from injury next season. I think every spot on the middle of the line should be up for competition at the end of the year.
Run Defense
The run defense has been top 5 in the league this year but the Packers rushing attack was too much. The Packers committed to the run because it was working so well with each runningback receiving more than 10 carries. Aaron Jones was also able to exploit the Rams’ weakness to catch and run football as he gashed them in the receiving game with a 25 yard catch. The involvement of both backs in the passing and run game was too much of a challenge for the Rams defense with Bobby Wagner and Ernest Jones having bad games.
Meh
Special Teams
The special teams has been pretty meh all year, this game was probably one of their worst. Keisean Nixon had some long kick returns including a 52 yarder. The special teams couldn’t seem to tackle him leading to some good field position for the Packers’ offense.
Tutu Atwell
Tutu was doing pretty well the past couple weeks but this was a bad game in his otherwise solid second half of the season. Atwell only ended up with 1 reception for 10 yards but also was able to draw a long pass interference call on a deep shot. He needs to work on his short and intermediate route tree as the offensive line isn’t putting the team in situations where they can take many deep shots. He’s been developing pretty well but this was just a meh game for him overall.
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