Green Bay Packers’ defensive front steals spotlight from highly touted Rams linemen in NFL playoffs

SportsPulse: Two GOATs battle in the Bayou while the Browns head to Kansas City. Lorenzo gives his two best bets for Sunday’s divisional round games. USA TODAY

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Going into the Green Bay Packers’ divisional-round game against the Los Angeles Rams, one of the most eye-catching matchups focused on the Rams defensive front and the Packers offensive line.

The giant, glittering, hypothetical marquee sign floating in the sky above Lambeau Field featured seven-time Pro Bowl, five-time All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald against All-Pro center Corey Linsley and Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins.

To that, the Packers defensive front said, “Hold my Spotted Cow.”

The Packers’ pass rush sacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff four times in their 32-18 victory, which was the most he had been taken down in a game all season. Donald, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and the Rams defense front, however, failed to sack Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once. His clean jersey could’ve been the face of a Tide campaign.

Green Bay Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark (97) sacks Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) during the 4th quarter of the Green Bay Packers 32-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams during the NFC divisional playoff game Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.

 (Photo: Mike De Sisti / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Packers’ pass rush was “relentless all game and I know we weren’t always getting pressure on Jared,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “I thought L.A., give them credit, got a lot of respect, obviously, I know those guys very, very well. They did a good job of having plays that got the ball out of his hands quickly and then their receivers made some plays. Their back made a lot of plays.

“But our guys stayed resilient up front and kept giving great energy, great effort.”

Three of the Packers’ four sacks came in the second half. Arguably one of the most important came early in the fourth quarter. With 11 minutes remaining in the game, the Packers were up 25-18. The Packers had failed to score in any capacity on two consecutive drives. The Rams had the ball at their own 32-yard line and had already picked up two first downs.

On second-and-10, defensive lineman Dean Lowry managed to penetrate the pocket, flushing Goff and forcing him to step up. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark spun away from center Austin Blythe and wrapped the quarterback up for the defense’s third sack of the game.

“Dean got great penetration on my other sack coming inside,” Clark said. “They were setting us pretty hard inside and Dean just crossed face, took a chance and got Goff flushed out. I came around and made the play.

“That’s our game and that’s what our defense is about. We’ve got to win, we’ve gotta just keep winning first down and when we do that, we get guys in long situations and when we’re able to do that, we got guys that can rush and get after the quarterback.”

Second-year outside linebacker Rashan Gary made his presence felt all night, registering 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. In the third quarter, Gary beat 15-year veteran tackle Andrew Whitworth inside and met Clark in the broken pocket to take down Goff together. Saturday’s win over the Rams marked Gary’s most productive game since Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles when he had 1.5 sacks.

“When the ball stops, when we’re huddled up, he’s always either talking to himself or talking to us,” Clark said of Gary. “Telling us the game is won up front, you know what I’m saying? He got a lot of confidence in himself. He had a really good year. He’s been balling. So he had a really good game today. The guy, man, he’s gonna be a really good player. He’s gotta just keep putting in the work and doing his thing, but I’m excited for RG, for everything that’s coming to him.”

From Clark’s fourth-quarter sack to the pass rush as a whole, LaFleur emphasized the importance of the defense’s performance. Even when the game got close, the Packers managed to shift the momentum and widen the gap.

“It’s that resiliency and that mindset that we need to have every game and it’s gotta be move on to the next play,” LaFleur said. “I do think when times get tough in this league, as a coach, as a player, you’ve just got to focus on doing your job to the best of your ability and rely on the guy next to you doing the same thing and having that same mindset. That’s what I’m so proud about our guys.”

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