Rams defense presents intriguing matchup for Packers offense
By Paul Bretl
The Los Angeles Rams defense presents an intriguing matchup for the Green Bay Packers offense.
Having the run game to lean on has been a must this season if the Packers’ offense is going to find any sustained success. Even over the last month of games where Christian Watson has been on a tear, this has still been true. But this week, Green Bay faces one of the top run defenses in the NFL.
In Green Bay’s three games against Dallas, Philadelphia, and Chicago, where they averaged nearly 31 points in those contests, in addition to Watson’s performances, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon tallied over 400 combined rushing yards at more than five yards per rush.
Against Tennessee, however, the Packers totaled just 17 points and posted 56 rushing yards at a 2.9-yard clip. In the fourth quarter, when Green Bay became pass-heavy, they simply weren’t good enough in that capacity to move the ball with any regularity. A few weeks prior to that game against Detroit, the Packers running backs were held to 66 yards at 3.1 yards per rush, and again, having to move the ball through the air was a challenge.
While these are just two examples, this has been the case for much of the year. Recently, Adam Stenavich said that even with that big play ability on the outside, success for this offense begins on the ground.
This is where the challenge, and perhaps predicament, lies this week for the Packers. The Rams have been incredibly stout against the run this season, allowing only 4.0 yards per rush, which ranks fourth, and Los Angeles has the fifth-best run defense by DVOA. On the flip side, where they’ve been susceptible is in the passing game, ranking in the bottom-third of the NFL in yards per attempt allowed and pass DVOA, including 31st against the deep ball specifically.
So how do the Green Bay Packers approach this game? Run into the teeth of this Rams defense because having that run-pass balance has been a must? Or instead, rely more on the passing game because that is the weak point of this defense?
You can see the predicament that the Packers find themselves in with this matchup.
As is often the case, the answer probably lies in the middle, but I do fully expect to see the Packers passing more than they have been, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see 35-plus pass attempts from Aaron Rodgers.
In terms of putting a game plan together to attack the weak points of a defense, against the Rams, it’s going to involve their secondary. With that said, the Packers can’t become predictable, either. Aaron Donald’s status, which is up in the air at this time, will very much impact Green Bay’s game plan as well. Last week without Donald in the middle, Las Vegas rushed for over 160 yards at 5.2 yards per rush.
The Packers’ offense has been playing some of its best football as of late, and they’ll be getting Romeo Doubs back as well. Green Bay has a prime opportunity to continue building that momentum against the Rams, however, how they go about doing that may look a bit different, with the run game taking a bit of a backseat.