Packers take down Rams in NFC showdown

Updated: Nov. 29, 10 a.m.

The Green Bay Packers earned their ninth victory of the season in a 36-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams in a battle of NFC contenders on Nov. 28 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers accounted for all three of the Packers’ offensive touchdowns. He connected with receiver Randall Cobb and running back A.J. Dillon on passing scores and ran for another score.

Green Bay also got some timely plays from its defense and special teams. The Packers had three takeaways, with cornerback Rasul Douglas intercepting a pass and returning it for a score for the team’s other touchdown.

Green Bay dominated the time of possession (39:40-20:20) and forced Los Angeles to be one-dimensional for most of the game after shutting down the visitor’s run attack.

“Really proud of our guys tonight, just staying focused with what we know we have in front of us with the bye,” said coach Matt LaFleur of the team’s win. “It’s been a long year to go this far without a bye week, but our guys did exactly what we asked them to do.”

Green Bay scored the game’s first 10 points, with the defense setting up the offense on both scores.

Outside linebacker Rashan Gary sacked and stripped Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and fellow outside linebacker Preston Smith was able to scoop up the loose ball and set the Packers’ offense up at the Los Angeles 6 yard-line.

Three plays later, Rodgers — nursing a broken pinky toe — beat All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the pylon for a 1-yard rushing score.

“That was not the play at all. The play was hand the ball off or throw it, probably to Cobby on the left side,” said Rodgers.

“Thankfully, he went for the pump fake, and I was able to get around the edge.”

The offense got the ball back a couple minutes later after safety Adrian Amos made a tackle for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run by the Rams. The Packers settled for a 45-yard field goal from kicker Mason Crosby to go up 10-0.

After Los Angeles got on the scoreboard with a 79-yard touchdown pass, Green Bay’s offense put together another scoring drive that was capped by a Crosby field goal, this time from 28 yards. Rodgers connected with Cobb on a 54-yard pass on a third-down play to jump-start the drive.

Cobb was at the center of several more critical plays in the first half before leaving with an injury.

The veteran wide receiver muffed a punt, allowing Los Angeles to kick a field goal and make it a three-point game.

Cobb then caught a 27-yard pass on the first play of a touchdown drive. Rodgers also connected with receiver Davante Adams on a 43-yard pass before finding Cobb for a 7-yard touchdown.

“Randall is a special talent, and it definitely hurt us losing him at halftime,” said LaFleur. “I thought he did a hell of a job in that first half when he was playing and made a lot of key plays that helped us get that lead going into the half.”

The Rams had the final points in the wild back-and-forth first half, which left the Packers with a 20-17 lead.

Green Bay created some separation by scoring the first 17 points in the second half.

On the first drive, the Pack leaned on Dillon on a 13-play, 75-yard drive. Rodgers found Dillon on a 5-yard pass to cap the drive.

The teams then traded punts, but Green Bay tight end Dominique Dafney forced a fumble on the Rams’ punt return, and linebacker Krys Barnes grabbed the loose ball to set the team’s offense up at the Los Angeles 27-yard line. Six plays later, Crosby connected on a 29-yard field goal.

On the third play of the ensuing drive, Douglas jumped a Stafford pass, intercepted the ball and returned it 33 yards to make it 36-17 with under two minutes to play in the third quarter.

Green Bay’s offense had several chances to put the game away — including a missed field goal by Crosby — but the defense made enough stops to hold on to the lead.

Rodgers finished with 307 passing yards and completed 28 of his 45 attempts.

Dillon led the Pack with 69 rushing yards on 20 attempts as the team limited the touches for the banged-up Aaron Jones.

Adams hauled in eight passes for 104 yards, while Cobb went for 95 yards on four catches in the first half. Receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling had four grabs for 50 yards.

Barnes led the defense with nine total tackles, while defensive lineman Kenny Clark had six, including a sack. Douglas had five tackles and four pass breakups to go along with his pick-six.

“Like how was this guy on the practice squad (of the Arizona Cardinals)? I mean the dude has made so many plays for us,” said Rodgers of Douglas.

The win moved the Packers to 9-0 in games following a loss under LaFleur. Green Bay finished 4-0 against NFC West teams for the first time since 2009.

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