Packers defeat Rams 20-3 in sloppy victory at Lambeau Field, ending losing streak

Green Bay pulled away from Los Angeles in the fourth quarter on Sunday as they move to 3-5.

The Green Bay Packers’ losing streak is finally over. After scoring a touchdown in the first half for the first time in nearly two months, Matt LaFleur’s team pulled away from the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth quarter on Sunday for a 20-3 victory.

For much of the afternoon, this game lived up to its billing: a contest between two struggling teams, featuring an over/under total of just 38 points. Indeed, through about 45 minutes it felt like if any team could just stop committing self-inflicted mistakes, they would be able to pull away for a victory. but it took until early in the fourth quarter for one team to finally capitalize.

The Packers did just that, taking a 10-3 lead with 15 minutes to go and expanding it out to a 17-point margin by the final buzzer. They did so thanks in part to several big plays from their undermanned defense, which held the Matthew Stafford-less Rams to just a field goal.

Green Bay was not only playing without cornerback Rasul Douglas, who was traded to the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday, but also two other starters: safety Rudy Ford and linebacker Quay Walker, who both picked up injuries during the last few days of practice. Additionally, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury and did not return, leaving the team without another three of the team’s more important players on that side of the football.

However, Carrington Valentine stepped up and played well as the team’s new starting outside cornerback, breaking up multiple passes and being aggressive in run support. Meanwhile, Isaiah McDuffie made a handful of big stops in the run game, Karl Brooks tipped multiple passes at the line of scrimmage, and safety Anthony Johnson, Jr. came up with a crucial fourth-quarter interception to help the Packers extend their lead out to double-digits

The Packers also got the first big contested catch of the year from Christian Watson before Luke Musgrave found the end zone for the first time in his NFL career in the fourth quarter to put a bow on the scoring.

The first drive of the game saw the team pick up a pair of first downs, moving the football to midfield after starting at their own 8-yard line. The offense wiped out a successful fourth-down quarterback sneak by Jordan Love, however, as right guard Jon Runyan, Jr. appeared to line up offsides on the play, and the Packers punted away. Runyan would get flagged for the same penalty in the same situation a few series later, and although both flags were questionable at best, the Packers’ early-game discipline issues flared up once again.

To wit, Green Bay committed seven penalties in the first half, costing them 47 yards. Still, they were able to take a lead into halftime for the first time in nearly two months.

The defense picked up the offense on the Rams’ second drive, thanks to pressure on Rams QB Brett Rypien. Rypien had trouble with a second-down snap, then scrambled to try to avoid pressure from safety Jonathan Owens. Owens managed to strip the football from Rypien as he tried to throw it away, and De’Vondre Campbell was right there to recover the fumble and give the Packers great field position.

Set up nicely, Green Bay went down and scored a touchdown in the first half for the first time since week 2, finding paydirt early in the second quarter. The team’s second offensive series leaned on the run game, and Aaron Jones punched the football in from three yards out to give the Packers a 7-0 lead.

After the Packers’ next drive was scuttled by Runyan’s second offsides penalty on a sneak, the Rams finally got a series moving. A 34-yard throw from Rypien to Cooper Kupp converted a 3rd-and-11 deep in their own territory, one of three third-down conversions on the drive, but the Packers managed to hold the Rams to a 52-yard field goal from rookie kicker Lucas Havrisik just inside the two-minute warning.

The Packers had 1:42 and two timeouts to work with before the half, and an ugly but productive drive managed to get in position for a 48-yard field goal attempt by Anders Carlson, but the rookie pushed it wide left to keep the score 7-3 at the half.

Green Bay got a big boost to start the third quarter, as Keisean Nixon returned a kickoff 51 yards to the 47-yard line. But on the next snap, Dontayvion Wicks fumbled after a ten-yard gain, coughing up the football and any momentum that the Packers might have had coming out of the break. Los Angeles picked up a few first downs with their quick passing game, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Puka Nacua pushed them back behind the sticks and forced a punt.

Aaron Jones fumbled for the Packers’ second turnover of the day after a promising start to the drive, giving the Rams the football in Green Bay territory. Isaiah McDuffie made back-to-back stops in the run game, however, and Havrisik missed wide right from 49 yards out as the score stayed 7-3.

Love finally got some explosive plays on the ensuing series, hitting Wicks for 18 yards and Luke Musgrave for 25 on back-to-back snaps. That pushed the Packers into the red zone, but Love got tripped up by Aaron Donald while scrambling to find a receiver on third down and Carlson came on to hit a short 26-yard field goal.

Early in the fourth quarter, a key interception finally opened things up for Green Bay. Jaire Alexander tipped a pass to Anthony Johnson, Jr. for a pick, the Packers’ second turnover of the day. That led to another Carlson field goal, which critically brought the lead up to ten points at 13-3.

With the Packers trying to further extend their lead, Christian Watson finally came down with a huge contested catch on a deep ball. On 3rd and long, Watson went up for a lofted ball from Love and came down with a 37-yard catch, the biggest play of the day for either team and surely a big confidence boost for the young receiver. He got up slowly after the play, which will be worth monitoring, but two snaps later, Love hit Luke Musgrave up the seam for a beautiful 20-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

All told, the Packers’ run game did much of the work. Green Bay ran for 185 yards on the day, with Jones, Dillon, and even Emanuel Wilson all racking up at least 40 yards on the ground. Wilson took a few late carries with the Packers winding the clock down, breaking off a 31-yarder before two final kneel-downs from Love.

The Packers improved their record to 3-5 on the season, while the Rams fall to 3-6. Green Bay will head to Pittsburgh next week to take on the 5-3 Steelers, while Los Angeles has a bye in week 10 before they host the Seattle Seahawks in two weeks.