NFL Week 12 Game Recap: Green Bay Packers 36, Los Angeles Rams 28

The offensive woes continued for Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, who fell to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 36-28 in Week 12.  

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Green Bay Packers

Quarterback

Rodgers shook off his “covid toe” and delivered key throws against the Rams defensive backs. On third downs, Rodgers threw for 139 yards on 16 attempts, with five of his seven completions being first-down conversions. His average depth of target on third-down throws was 14.8, pushing it downfield against the Rams’ tight underneath coverage.

Running Backs

The Packers run game didn’t do much on early downs to alleviate pressure on their legendary QB. They averaged just 2.7 yards per carry on 19 first-down rushing attempts, with 94% of yardage coming after contact. A.J. Dillon handled 20 of Green Bay’s 32 rushes.

Wide Receivers

Touchdown-to-checkdown was the formula for Green Bay in the passing game, with 61% of Rodgers' throws going either less than 10 yards downfield or deeper than 20. Twenty of those 28 targets were completed for 197 yards, 10 first downs and two touchdowns. Davante Adams caught eight of nine targets for 104 yards and five first downs.

Offensive Linemen

Rodgers’ elite pocket movement bought him time in situations where most QBs would have been affected by the pass rush. He only took two QB hits that a Packers lineman was responsible for. That didn’t stop Los Angeles from trying to get after him, with 20 pressures spread across the five linemen. Yosh Nijman gave up both QB hits.

Defensive Linemen

Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary and Preston Smith are core pieces of the enormous defensive front in Green Bay. Clark had two tackles for loss against the run and a sack as a pass rusher, while Gary secured a sack of his own on four pressures.

Linebackers

De’Vondre Campbell has emerged as the best second-level defender for Green Bay but did not get any run stops against Los Angeles. The players he was covering caught one pass on two targets, and he only added into the pass rush once.

Secondary

Eric Stokes came into the season as a raw athletic rookie from the University of Georgia but has carved out a role as a legitimate No. 2 CB in this system. The loss of Jaire Alexander has not hurt his performance, as Stokes allowed just three catches on 10 targets for 20 yards. His passer rating allowed was just 39.6, meaning Stafford was just as productive attacking Stokes as he would have been throwing the ball into the third row.

Eric Stokes | Week 12

Los Angeles Rams

Stafford is still trying to shake away the turnover bug that has plagued his performances over the last month, throwing another awfully timed pick-six after being moved off of his platform. Of his seven third-down passes, the only completion was a 79-yard touchdown to Van Jefferson on a post route.

Running Backs

Until Stafford can sort out what’s gone wrong with his ball placement and decision making, the Rams have to figure out the next evolution of early-down production on the ground. It wasn’t there on Sunday, as the team averaged just 3.0 yards per carry on 11 attempts. Darrell Henderson handled 80% of the carries, but just 25% of his runs resulted in a first down or touchdown.

Wide Receivers

The Rams have steadily lost some of the verticality in this offense week over week, with just 39% of their throws targeted deeper than 9.0 yards. Without the dominant run game of past iterations of the Rams offense, this team is looking more and more like an extremely talented roster executing a run of the mill offense, far from what we know Sean McVay to be. Odell Beckham’s 58-yard bomb and Jefferson’s deep shot made up a large bulk of the passing production.

Offensive Linemen

The Rams are covering for some of the protection holes among their interior linemen and only allowed two pressures between the guards and center. Austin Corbett allowed pressure that resulted in a sack on Stafford.

Defensive Linemen

Aaron Donald and Von Miller flashed their potential to affect the pocket in a big-tame situation, combining for 11 pressures on Sunday. The tandem combined for nine “wins” — beating the player tasked with blocking them. The two also combined for eight run stops.

Linebackers

The way this defense is structured, Troy Reeder spends a good amount of time as the only player off the ball between the tackles. He had eight assisted tackles and three solo against the run, one going for a loss. But he could not be hidden in coverage — he was targeted seven times and allowed 65 yards and five first downs.

Secondary

Matt LaFleur deserves much credit for scheming up ways to keep Jalen Ramsey off of Davante Adams in important situations. The superstar corner allowed just 48 yards on seven receptions, with an average depth of target below 5.0 yards. The game plan may not have been to avoid him altogether, but the Packers did not seem inclined to try him down the field.