Packers-Rams takeaways: Aaron Rodgers’ brilliance was too much for an overmatched L.A. defense

It never really looked difficult for the Packers. Even when the Rams closed within one score in the fourth quarter, it felt like Green Bay was in control — and the Packers eventually won the first Divisional Round game of the weekend, 32-18.

Aaron Rodgers was playing too well. Matt LaFleur was nailing every play-call. The Packers offensive line was dominating. Aaron Donald was clearly limited. And Jared Goff was Jared Goff.

It never felt like the Rams had a player who was going to come through in a big situation and make a game-changing play. Maybe a healthy Donald or Cooper Kupp, who missed the game, would have been that guy. Not on Sunday.

In the end, Green Bay advanced to the NFC title game with an easy win over the Rams. The Packers will take on the winner of the Buccaneers-Saints game tomorrow night. But before we look ahead to those potential matchups, let’s take one last look back at this on.

Here are our biggest takeaways from Green Bay’s win.

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This obviously wasn’t the kind of performance we’ve come to expect from this Rams defense that was so good throughout the first 18 weeks of the season, but they did accomplish one goal: Before Aaron Rodgers’ back-breaking touchdown pass to Allen Lazard in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles had mostly taken away the Packers’ deep passing game.

Lazard’s touchdown was the first big blow landed in the play-action game for Green Bay. Outside of that play though, Rodgers averaged 5.2 yards per completion on play-action attempts. It didn’t matter, though. Mostly because the Packers were getting whatever they wanted on the ground and Rodgers was basically perfect in the quick passing game.

When Rodgers was asked to push it downfield, he came through with some good throws after being forced to move off his spot by the pass rush.

Thanks to a dominant performance by the offensive line and a master class in play-calling by Matt LaFleur, Rodgers’ improv skills weren’t needed all that often. But when they were, the veteran quarterback showed why he’ll likely be adding another MVP award to the old resume.

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Jared Goff had a productive day throwing the ball, but didn’t really play all that well throughout the game. On plays where the Rams were able to keep Green Bay at bay and things lined up perfectly for him, he made some nice throws. Goff was able to convert on a few big throws on the Rams’ touchdown drives throughout the game, but his play versus pressure hurt the Rams offense.

Goff completed 21 of his 27 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, but finished with -0.7 expected points according to Ben Baldwin of Athletic. In high pressure situations, and when Goff was under pressure, the Rams struggled. Goff was sacked four times for 26 yards and the Rams converted just two of their eight third down attempts. 

It was a functional game for Goff, but not one that was good enough to help the Rams consistently generate offense. This performance encapsulated who Goff is as a quarterback: great when things are clean, but unable to create when the Rams need him to. The Rams offensive line should have played better in high leverage situations, but Goff needed to do a bit more than he did against the Packers.

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The Packers offensive line was a major reason for their win over the Rams. The Packers ran for 188 yards, two touchdowns, and 5.2 yards per carry and didn’t allow a single sack on Rodgers. Elgton Jenkins and Corey Linsley held down the interior, allowing just one tackle for loss on those 36 rushing attempts.

Green Bay was incredible in the trenches, but they were also helped by Aaron Donald clearly being held back by a rib injury. Donald only had one tackle and didn’t get much pressure on Rodgers. Rodgers was able to evade Donald on a rush where Donald just didn’t have quite enough in the tank to get him down.

With Donald slowed down, the Packers were able to run rampant through the Rams defense. That made life easy for Rodgers as he picked apart that defense. Rodgers completed 23 of his 36 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns. If the Packers offensive line continues to play this well, they should find themselves in the Super Bowl.

(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

We spent a lot of time talking about the Davante Adams-Jalen Ramsey matchup and some pregame jawing only added to the hype. Then the game happened and the matchup didn’t really have much to do with the outcome of the game. Mostly because the two were rarely matched up in coverage.

Adams, of course, scored a touchdown with Ramsey in coverage, but that wasn’t a real coverage rep. The play was won before the snap thanks to a creative call by LaFleur.

Adams did get the better of Ramsey on two quick slants, one of which left the Rams star covering air.

There was another quick slant that Ramsey limited to a modest gain with a good tackle and Adams caught an RPO pass and forced a missed tackle to pick up eight yards.

And … that about sums up the matchup. There were a few reps where Ramsey did a good job of sticking tight to Adams, including the first key third down of the game. Ramsey knows he has help inside so he plays Adams with outside leverage and forces Rodgers to look elsewhere.

Maybe the all-22 will reveal a more interesting matchup between these two stars, but based on the broadcast angle, this was an uneventful affair. Maybe next time these two meet up, the Rams will let Ramsey shadow Adams.