It all started as a confrontation in which the Los Angeles Rams went from being a loser to a legitimate threat, but the Green Bay Packers continued to deliver body blows towards a 32-18 victory to stamp their ticket to the NFC Championship game for the second consecutive season. and the third time since 2016. Aaron Rodgers had his offensive cooking as usual in the first move of the first half, and even got his usual mental error from the opposing defense that gave him a free throw that put the Packers in the red zone. They crashed into a brick wall immediately after that, when Rams’ defense held back to force a goal instead of what appeared to be an inevitable touchdown.
From there, it was a mix of Packers overhand rights thwarted by one-two combos from a Rams team that refused to lie down and go to sleep – until Rodgers finally put them to sleep against his will.
While still taking care of a broken thumb, Jared Goff came out of the gate shooting with precision and pace in the next race for the Rams, but the promising campaign ended in the depths of Packers’ territory after an untimely and unproductive savage call – followed by a run interrupted in the third and short and a penalty in the fourth and 1 that forced them to make their own basket. They would pay for these mistakes, with Rodgers again leading the charge, but this time getting his touchdown through a short throw for superstar Davante Adams early in the second half. A sack by the defensive end Za’Darius Smith later and the Packers had the ball once again, punishing the Rams for another long run – they were certainly beginning to wear down Rams’ defense – to hit a second touchdown, this time with Rodgers taking in itself stretch the lead to 13 points.
Refusing to lie down and die, however, Goff planned a 75-yard touchdown and nine moves in the last two minutes of the first half to reduce his deficit with the help of rookie receiver Van Jefferson. Aaron Jones punched Rams in the face to start the third quarter, but the Rams responded with some trickery from running back Cam Akers and timely defensive stops, only to finally become Rodgers’ last victim being Rodgers in the clutch – through a 58-yard touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter to close the coffin in the Rams’ season.
Why the Packers Won
I must assume that FedEx, UPS and USPS are jealous.
That’s how the Packers were great on the ground as well as in the air – running 188 yards (over 200 yards at one point) and launching to another 296. They reached the first by committing themselves not only to Jones, but also to Jamaal Williams and the second-round rookie chose AJ Dillon, the RB Hydra having his way with a Los Angeles defenseman who saw perennial All-Pro Aaron Donald a little too injured to help stop him. Donald was visibly frustrated by the Packers’ offensive line for much of the game when he was on the pitch, and he wasn’t the only one. Rodgers was not fired once in four full quarters of play, and his comfort fueled eight third-down conversions in 12 attempts on his way to 482 total yards on the day and two passing touchdowns. It was also a matter of discipline for Green Bay, which had just three penalties throughout the game for only 22 yards in total.
They played as a team ready to move on, and that includes the defense to intensify in the big moments. While the Rams couldn’t smell the Rodgers colony – including allowing him to get involved in a wrong move for a quick touchdown – the Packers made Goff feel his presence regularly. Goff was fired four times and hit seven times, usually on the third descent, when the Rams could barely pay. At one point, the Rams had converted zero from their first five attempts at third descent and ended up converting only two out of eight (25 percent). Congratulations to Los Angeles for putting unexpected pressure on the Packers for a good portion of the competition – in terms of scoring – but Rodgers is special, and even more so when he is in front of his fans on a trip to the NFC title game on the line .
Why the Rams lost
As noted, Rodgers may not have to wash his shirt later.
He was clean and upright throughout the game and comfortable, even when he was in his pocket in his own finishing zone with the security threat looming nearby. This was in stark contrast to Russell Wilson’s defeat of the Rams a week earlier, a nod to the Packers’ offensive line skills, and also a hint of how hurt Donald really is. With the Los Angeles defense under siege for much of the game, although they had more than one key stop that threatened to turn the tide, it was Goff who felt the pressure to overcome an NFL legend on his own field, and he did his best . Although he ended up with just 174 passing yards and a touchdown, he was as efficient as you could be a man with a broken thumb – in fact, much more. Goff was only six incomplete and helped design impressive drives on more than one occasion, but the wall in front of him collapsed again and again when he could least afford it.
Without the ability to dominate the air, Akers needed to repeat his dominant performance against the Seahawks, but he didn’t because he couldn’t. His 90-yard run in 18 touchdown attempts was solid football, but not the Herculean effort needed to overcome an inconsistent airstrike and exhausted Rams defense. This is a team that showed a lot of heart in the face of a more powerful opponent but simply ran out of breath on the 12th round.
Inflection point
It was Rams ‘momentum to take the break, cutting back on the lead and warning that they wouldn’t be the Packers’ punching bag in this game. But to start the third quarter, they took an uppercut to the face through a 60-yard dash from Aaron Jones, who later polished the move with a touchdown to keep the Rams at bay until Rodgers could finish the job.
Game Play
With the season at stake and needing a touchdown to hit the coffin, who better to swing the hammer than Rodgers? This is the football version of having Mamba Mentality – the leader for the league’s MVP burying the Rams with a clutch release they will never forget.
Get your popcorn
“Aaron Rodgers never faced Tom Brady, nor Drew Brees, in the NFL playoffs. So, that’s it.” – André Siciliano de NFL Network
What is the next
The Packers await the winner of the New Orleans Saints against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, creating what will be a historic NFC post-season clash of NFL titans as a defender.
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