Chilling message to Rams fans via Packers’ Dairyland Express Paul Bretl

It’s that time of year again when anyone who plans to follow the LA Rams on the road to attend their Monday Night Football game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to face off against the Green Bay Packers is rummaging through the house looking for thermal underwear, polar fleece outerwear, warm gloves, and electric socks.

We talk about cold and the thought of it can make a person shiver simply from memory. But to actually choose to sit in the arctic cold nightfall of temperatures that will fall below zero degrees Fahrenheit when factoring in a wind chill is the stuff that will keep all but the hardiest NFL fans home in the warm comfort of their living rooms.

But if you are accustomed to the cold? Then this is the time of year you most look forward to. Hot beverages in the thermos, whether coffee, tea, broth, or cocoa, simply tastes that much better in the frigid outdoors. And if you prepare well enough, with a warm pad to sit on, and a nice wool blanket to throw over your legs, you can stay relatively comfortable long enough to enjoy a game of football.

As long as your team is winning, that is.

What is lurking at Lambeau for the Rams this season?

The temperature may be the first thing that the LA Rams must consider, but that is only the beginning of their challenges this week. The LA Rams (4-9) travel to face the Green Bay Packers (5-8) once more. The Rams have traveled to Lambeau in each of the past two consecutive seasons, and have been turned away without a win on each occasion.

Is the third time the charm?

While anything is possible for these LA Rams after the impossible Mayfield Miracle on Thursday Night Football, the Rams must also do more than just show up and hope for the best.  The Rams are certainly no longer predictable, which may or may not be a good thing under such harsh gametime weather conditions.  But since we are newcomers to the chilling reality of playing football in the stiff winds of arctic blasts, we have tapped our friends at Dairyland Express.com to help us get a good survey of the field, the Green Bay Packers, and a host of other facts that LA Rams fans may find intriguing.

Helping us out is Paul Bretl, Site-Expert for Dairyland Express, and he has agreed to answer a number of questions about the Packers’ season, roster, and even off-season matters. So let’s get right to it:

What caused the Packers to struggle this season?

Ramblin’ Fan: With a record of 5-8 after 13 games, the Green Bay Packers are likely out of post-season contention. What do you think was the greatest contributor(s) to the Packers’ lack of success this season?

Dairyland Express Paul Bretl: Where do I begin? It really feels like it’s been a bit of everything and the major issues would change from week to week. Ultimately, a lot of the little things weren’t being done correctly on both sides of the ball. There were dropped passes, penalties, turnovers, missed tackles, the wrong routes being run, miscommunications on defense, inaccurate passes, and a number of other issues. If a team can’t do the little things correctly, how are they supposed to execute anything at a high level?

To hone in on the biggest issues, offensively, defenses simply weren’t afraid of this Packers’ passing game for much of the year. This led to opponents playing closer to the line of scrimmage, shrinking the field, which made moving the ball via the running and quick passing games much more challenging. Injuries and movement along the offensive line didn’t help either.

On defense, there are very few players who are playing above expectations. Joe Barry’s defense isn’t getting the most out of this group, and he has been slow to make adjustments while oftentimes playing quite conservatively despite having quite a bit of talent on that side of the ball. Meanwhile, the players deserve blame as well for many of the reasons already mentioned.