LA Rams injury update: Head coach McVay talks roster and strategy

When the Packers have the ball

The Rams defense may be the top-ranked defense, but they will be tested to their limits against the Green Bay offense. The Packers can run the ball with ease, setting up their marksman quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  Their running game averages a dangerous 4.8-yards-per-carry, led by bell-cow Aaron Jones. In fact, their rushing attack is so dangerous, it rose to the eighth-ranked rushing offense in the NFL.

That gives them a perfect play-action game to launch a deadly aerial assault, led by wide receiver Devante Adams, who has caught 115 of 149 passes thrown his way for 1,374 yards and 18 touchdowns. For comparison purposes, the Rams’  entire receiving corps caught just 20 touchdowns. The battle between Adams and LA Rams defensive back Jalen Ramsey will definitely make this one worth the price of admission.

Rams must get to Rodgers

The only ‘bad’ game by the Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers came at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that one, the Bucs were able to sack Rodgers four times. They also were able to pick off two of his passes and held him to no touchdown passes. The only occasion where Rodgers was sacked over twice in one game came at the hands of the Carolina Panthers.

In that one, Rodgers only passed 20 of 29 times for 143 yards and one touchdown. Unfortunately, Aaron Jones gashed the Panthers’ defense with 20 rushes for 145 yards and a touchdown. The Rams defense will be the best defense that the Packers have faced this year, and certainly the best pass rush.  The Rams have been getting to the quarterback without blitzing, and that will be critical to stopping the Packers’ offense.

Rams may get help stopping the run

Of course, all the planning gets chucked out the window if the Rams cannot stop that Packers running game early. The Rams have not had much strength from their interior linebackers in run support, but the team has benefited from a tremendous defensive line and a solid secondary. Can that be counted on to stop a very strong running game from the Packers?

The Packers lost star offensive left tackle David Bakhtiari to a season-ending knee injury as 2020 ended. To compensate, the Packers moved Billy Turner to left tackle, and Rick Wagner took over at the right tackle position. While that pair only allowed one sack to a tough Bears defense, they were not nearly as effective in run blocking. In fact, the Packers were held to just 79 yards and one rushing touchdown for the day.

Rushing 19 times, that breaks down to just a 4.2-yard rushing average, and that was buoyed by Jamaal Williams’s 5.2 yard average in relief. In short, it’s the Packers rushing attack that truly has suffered in Bakhtiari’s absence.