The Green Bay Packers escaped from Los Angeles with a 24-19 win over the Rams Sunday afternoon.
Looking to get back on track following last week’s loss and recent turmoil brought on by Romeo Doubs’ suspension, the Packers had the chance to take out their frustration on a Rams team that continues to sink to the bottom of the NFC West. For how much that looked to be the case on paper, the Packers still managed to make that proposition much harder than it had to be.
The biggest blunder of the day came late in the second quarter.
On a third and 12 while pinned back on their own eight-yard line, Jordan Love rolled to his right as Rams pass rushers rained down upon him. Instead of cleanly throwing the ball out of bounds, Love attempted to make a play, got shoved and threw the ball in the air as he looked to avoid a safety in his endzone. The ball fell in the hands of Rams cornerback Jaylen McCullough that gave the Rams a 13-7 lead with 2:02 remaining in the quarter.
Thankfully, the Packers had the playmakers to help turn the tide in the second half.
First, a forced fumble by edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare fell into the Packers’ hands that ended Los Angeles’ opening drive of the half. Two plays later, Green Bay marched right down the field and hit paydirt, thanks to Tucker Kraft’s open field brilliance on a 66-yard play. Now up 17-13, the Packers got another boost when safety Xavier McKinney came away with his fifth straight interception in as many games. The Packers marched back down the field again and found the endzone — courtesy of Kraft yet again — to go up 24-13 with 3:55 to go in the third.
It looked to be smooth sailing from there, but the Rams still made it a game when they put together an efficient scoring drive to put the score at 24-19 with 3:30 remaining. The Packers responded with a three-and-out, leaving the door for the Rams to write a game-winning drive with under three minutes to go. They got as far as reaching Packers territory and it was Evan Williams’ turn to save the day with the game-sealing pass breakup on a 4th and 5 on their 38-yard line.
The Packers got the job done and left L.A. with a 3-2 record to keep pace in a highly competitive NFC North division. Still, they left knowing a lot still was to be desired in how they handled their business.
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