Packers 36, Rams 28: 2-minute drill

November 28, 2021
|In Packers
|By Zach Heilprin

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers (9-3) hit their bye week on a high note with a 36-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams (7-4) on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Game Balls

Offense: QB Aaron Rodgers

A week after shredding Minnesota in a loss, the Packers quarterback shredded Los Angeles in a win. Rodgers threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, including a bullet in tight coverage to Randall Cobb in the second quarter. Despite dealing with a fractured pinky toe on his left foot, Rodgers also showed he still has just enough speed in his soon-to-be 38-year-old legs, pump-faking and then outrunning cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the pylon for his third rushing touchdown of the year.

Rodgers and the offense left some points on the field, especially in the red zone, but being just the third team to score at least 30 points against the Rams this year is still an accomplishment worthy of praise.

Defense: OLB Rashan Gary

The Packers missed Gary last week when he was forced to miss the Minnesota game with an elbow injury. But he came back with a force against the Rams, including making the first big defensive play of the game. The former first-round pick whipped by left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who held onto Gary for dear life. It did not matter, as Gary still managed to strip quarterback Matthew Stafford of the ball, which was recovered by linebacker Preston Smith. It set up the Packers first touchdown of the game.

Gary has now produced five sacks and two forced fumbles in his last five games, becoming the game-changer that GM Brian Gutekunst was hoping for when he took him No. 12 overall in 2019.

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In Case You Missed It

— For the first time in seven games, the Packers won the coin toss.

— Packers coach Matt LaFleur is now 9-0 in games after a regular season loss.

— Cornerback Rasul Douglas keeps making plays for Green Bay. Starting in place of an injured Kevin King, Douglas picked off Stafford in the third quarter and returned it for a touchdown. It was his second interception of the season, joining his game-ending one against Arizona. Douglas nearly had a second pick later in the quarter but could not hold on.

— Green Bay was a finalist to land wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. when he was cut by Cleveland earlier this year, but he chose to sign with LA. In his second game with the club, he had five catches for 81 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown.

Packers’ wide receiver Davante Adams, who is friends with Beckham Jr. and tried to get him to sign with Green Bay, joked that he sent his jersey to the Rams locker room with a message for OBJ not to punch any walls when he was in there. Beckham Jr, when with the New York Giants, famously put a hole in the wall inside Lambeau Field following a playoff loss in 2016.

— Green Bay took another hit on the injury front, losing wide receiver Randall Cobb to a hamstring injury. Before he went out, the veteran had four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.

— Safety Darnell Savage took a vicious hit to the head on the Rams onside kick attempt in the final seconds of the game.

Savage took to Twitter latter on to let everyone know he was fine but also not pleased with the hit.

— Rodgers said his injured toe felt better coming out of this game than last week when it required a shot to numb the pain at halftime. Rodgers has said there are some options to deal with the toe during the bye week, including the potential for surgery. However, the veteran has also been clear that he will not do anything that would require him to miss time.

Inside the Numbers

4-0 – That is Green Bay’s record against the NFC West as the Packers finished off a sweep of the division. If the playoff started today, three teams from the division would make it in the NFC.

3 – That is how many games in a row that Stafford has thrown an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

90 – That is how many total yards running back AJ Dillon had. It included 69 yards on the ground as well as a receiving touchdown.

104 – That is how many receiving yards Davante Adams had. It was his fifth game of 100-plus yards and it pushed him over 1,000 yards on the season for a third time in his career.

1 — That is how many sacks the stacked Rams front seven had. It came despite the Packers being down three starters along the offensive line.

What’s Next

Green Bay (9-3) will be on its bye next week before returning to action Dec. 12 against Chicago on Sunday Night Football.