Packers beat same old Matthew Stafford

 

On Sunday the Packers overcame touchdown passes of 79 and 54 yards from Matthew Stafford by the usual method, forcing turnovers and building a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter to outlast the Rams 36-28. Although Rodgers was suffering a pinkie-toe injury, the cold weather in Green Bay may have numbed the pain somewhat as he threw for 307 yards. Stafford was playing with injuries himself, mainly stuff like soreness and sprains, but it didn’t prevent him from throwing the ball down the field. As a Lion, Stafford averaged over 284 yards passing a game against the Packers, and in this game he threw for 302. But he also threw 21 interceptions in those games and added a pick-six today, and a sack-fumble at the Rams’ six-yard-line that led to another easy Packer touchdown.

That this game was even as “close” as it seemed was surprising giving that the Packers were 20 seconds shy of having a time-of-possession exactly double that of the Rams. The Packers had 13 possessions to do something, but were forced to punt five times; still, they kept getting their chances, since the Rams' longest drive only lasted 2:53, and they had five possessions that lasted less than a minute. Stafford again looked productive in brief stretches, but outside the long TD passes, Stafford threw for just 163 yards on 36 pass attempts, and the Rams’ running “attack” was mostly nonexistent. Rodgers, on the other hand, threw mostly short passes as the running game didn’t produce until the Packers started to pull away in the second half.

For the second straight week, the Packer defense was “off,” but we can probably say that in the prior five games the Packers were not exactly facing quarterbacks at the top of their game. Today’s game could have turned out differently if Stafford was not playing with injury, and to its credit the defense forcing his two turnovers leading immediately to Packer touchdowns were the deciding factors of the game.

Next week is the Packers’ bye week, and we shall see if Rodgers’ toe can sufficiently heal for the final stretch. Calling it "Covid Toe" is not exactly inaccurate, since Rodgers probably would not have suffered it had he not tested positive and "worked out" at home instead of at the team facilities. Two weeks from now is another home game, against the Bears (which should be a gimme), and then on the road against the Ravens (which shouldn’t).