LA Rams DC Brandon Staley knows the Packers offense well

The LA Rams DC Brandon Staley faced the Packers’ offense while coaching for Chicago. How much will that help the Rams defense this weekend?

The LA Rams will travel to Green Bay Wisconsin to face the Packers at legendary Lambeau Field. This is a journey seldom traveled by the LA Rams, but that cannot be said of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. In fact, as the outside linebacker coach for the Chicago Bears in 2017 and 2018, Staley faced the Packer four times. The Bears won just one of the four games but competed in each one.

Now Staley will be making the trek north one more time. On this occasion, he is accompanied by the LA Rams. And for this game, he is in a new role. Now he is the defensive coordinator tasked with the improbable task of quieting a very loud and proud Green Bay offense, led by veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But he’s seen how it’s been done before and has enough experience to draw upon.

The A B C’s of stopping the Packers

There are three rules for stopping the Green Bay Packers offense, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. There are:

Always cover the top two receivers. Rodgers will look for his two best receivers and is savvy enough to find them even in disguised or deceptive secondaries. That means that defensive back Jalen Ramsey will have his work cut out for him in blanketing wide receiver Davante Adams. But it means that the secondary will need to have great coverage on both wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and tight end Robert Tonyan as well.

Bring pressure. If Aaron Rodgers has time in the pocket, he will set NFL passing records against any defense in the league. But he will hurry his throws if the pass rush can get to him. So far this season, the LA Rams have been getting to the quarterback. Now they must if the Rams are to have any chance of winning this game.

Contain the running game. The Packers have a deceptively strong running game, led by bell-cow Aaron Jones. Jones himself is threat enough. But with a pass-happy offense, his production can quickly refocus a defense upon stopping the rush, and then Aaron Rodgers will take over the game.

The Packers have not faced a defense as dangerous as that of the LA Rams. But the Rams did face a highly efficient offense when they played against the Buffalo Bills and surrendered 35 points in that game. The Rams have improved significantly since that game. Will it be enough? We’ll find out soon.