St. Louis Rams vs. Green Bay Packers: Green Bay Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Green Bay Packers stretched their perfect start to the season to 5-0 with a 24-10 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
It wasn't the prettiest victory for the Packers, but their stingy defense forced four turnovers and ultimately made up for the offense's shortcomings.
Aaron Rodgers threw his first pick at home since 2012—and then went and threw another as well as fumbled—yet tossed two touchdowns that proved to be enough to outscore the Rams (2-3).
St. Louis rookie tailback Todd Gurley had another impressive day on the ground with 159 rushing yards. He didn't find the end zone, but the Rams' young star certainly exposed some inefficiencies in Green bay's defense.
James Jones caught yet another touchdown pass—his fifth in the first five games—while Eddie Lacy was a non-factor in the running game.
The Packers play at home again next week when the San Diego Chargers come to visit before the team hits its bye.
Let's first hand out some position grades for Green Bay and go over any news, notes and quotes from its Week 5 win over St. Louis.
Position Grades for Packers
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | B- |
| RB | C+ |
| WR | A |
| TE | A |
| OL | B- |
| DL | B- |
| LB | A+ |
| DB | A+ |
| Special Teams | A- |
| Coaching | B |
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season yet still led the Packers to a victory. He turned the ball over three times, including two picks, and completed a season-low 63.3 percent of his passes. Nonetheless, his two touchdowns and 241 passing yards were enough in the end.
Running Back
Neither Eddie Lacy nor James Starks could ever get anything going on the ground Sunday. Despite facing a Rams defense that allowed 120.3 rushing yards per game, Lacy finished with just 27 on the day. When you subtract his game-high eight-yard rush, the Packers' starting tailback averaged a measly 1.58 yards per carry on his 12 other rushes.
Wide Receiver
Although Rodgers had a rough outing, Green Bay's wideouts made plays when it counted. Rookie Ty Montgomery caught a 31-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game, and the veteran James Jones scored yet again. His 77 receiving yards were the most for any Packers pass-catcher—even if 65 of them came on his third-quarter touchdown catch-and-run.
Tight End
For the second straight game, Richard Rodgers caught the most passes of any Packer—proof that his production should stay high with Andrew Quarless' absence. Rodgers finished with six receptions for 45 yards on Sunday.
Offensive Line
Despite giving up just two sacks, Green Bay's big men up front were no help in the running game. When your quarterback is the team's leading rusher with 39 yards, there might be an issue. Things took a turn for the worse in the first half when starting right guard T.J. Lang left the game with a right knee injury.
Defensive Line
Green Bay's front unit got torched by the St. Louis running game Sunday. Rookie tailback Todd Gurley racked up 159 yards on 30 carries—his second 100-plus-yard day. The lone bright spot for the defensive line came in conjunction with the linebackers as the defense pressured Nick Foles all day, forcing four picks and a fumble by the quarterback.
Linebackers
Clay Matthews continues to dominate as a blitzing middle linebacker. He could be seen bothering Foles consistently on passing downs as he tallied 1.5 sacks and a number of QB hits. Outside linebacker Julius Peppers also tacked on a sack and forced a fumble.
Defensive Backs
Interceptions are first and foremost forced by a defense's pressure on the quarterback. But Green Bay's safeties and corners were on their A-game Sunday. They picked off Foles four times—two by rookie Quinten Rollins and one each for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Micah Hyde.
Special Teams
Mason Crosby drained his lone field-goal attempt of the game and converted all three of his extra points. Datone Jones blocked a field goal in the third quarter to preserve the lead late. The only blemish on the special teams unit came when the Rams successfully converted a fake punt in the third.
Coaching
The Packers won the game—that's what counts. Yet it's hard to ignore their run defense getting torched by a rookie running back. Head coach Mike McCarthy also made a few questionable decisions—to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the Rams' 41-yard line with a 7-0 first-quarter lead and an unsuccessful challenge of a Rams pass completion in the second.
Rodgers Has Up-and-Down Day
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No one could've predicted Aaron Rodgers throwing an interception at home on Sunday—let alone a three-turnover outing—yet here we are.
Rodgers was picked off twice against the Rams—his first interceptions at home since 2012—and fumbled in the game as well. He finished with a season-low 82.8 passer rating and completed the worst percentage of his passes this year.
On the other hand, though, Rodgers tossed two touchdowns and 241 yards as he did just enough to lead the Packers to victory. Thanks to a strong defense, Rodgers' turnovers were a moot point as time expired.
What's interesting is when and how Rodgers threw his two scores. The first came on Green Bay's first drive of the game—something it'd done against San Francisco last week—while the other was the first drive of the third quarter.
The timing of both not only set the tone for the rest of each half Sunday, but they also concluded quick-hitting, no-huddle drives that define a Rodgers-led offense. Although one touchdown was a 31-yard strike to rookie Ty Montgomery and the other a 64-yard catch-and-run from James Jones, both scores are examples of the damage Rodgers can do with his arm.
Montgomery caught his touchdown with almost no one around him and could've walked into the end zone. Yet, there's always a reason with the Packers. Rodgers could be seen looking the safeties off on the replays and opening up the seam for Montgomery. There was also probably a little confusion in the St. Louis secondary.
Jones' touchdown run came on a completion that should've gone for 30 yards at most. It was a post route up the middle on one-on-one coverage with no safety help. Where was the safety in the middle of the field? You can bet Rodgers knows.
Aaron Rodgers and Other Packers Joke About Broken INT Streak
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Everything is better when you win—even when you're Aaron Rodgers and you just committed three turnovers.
The two picks Rodgers threw were his first at home since Dec. 2012—that's an NFL-record 586 consecutive passes for 49 touchdowns between interceptions at Lambeau Field for the Packers quarterback.
After Sunday's game, Rodgers and his teammates weren't afraid to joke about the miscues. Here's Rodgers himself discussing the broken streak with reporters, via ESPN's Rob Demovsky:
"It was a lot of fun. Have to start a new one. I figured might as well break the streak with a couple of interceptions today. Yeah, streaks are meant to be broken, so it's fun to put something together like that. But I'm sure someone will come along at some point and put up 600 in row maybe.
Maybe not.
"
Demovsky captured some gem quotes from Rodgers' teammates as well after the win.
"He's human sometimes, man," James Jones said of Rodgers, via Demovsky. "But it's very rare. It's very rare. So when you get him without his cape on, you better catch it."
Demovsky also tweeted a quote from Green Bay tackle Bryan Bulaga: "I don’t grade quarterback play. I have no idea. I can’t even throw a spiral."
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Packers D Forces Four Turnovers
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Some might've said the Rams came into this season with a better defensive unit than the Packers—and rightfully so. After Sunday, though, that sentiment should be reversed.
Although they got torched by Gurley for 159 yards, the Packers held St. Louis to just 10 points and benefited from some timely turnovers.
The defense came into Week 5 having managed just four takeaways in the first four games, yet a date with the Rams resulted in four turnovers in Green Bay's favor. All four were interceptions, and all mostly came because of the constant pressure Foles experienced under center for the Rams, as the Packers also tallied three sacks on the day.
Gurley's big day on the ground is a cause for concern—especially after Green Bay's been so successful against the run over the previous three weeks—and no one wants a rookie running all over you.
Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin put the defense's performance in perspective, though, for the worrisome fan: "The Rams’ final yardage total (334) was slightly misleading, since 123 of it came on two plays: A 55-yard Todd Gurley run early in the fourth quarter, and a 68-yard Nick Foles-to-Steadman Bailey pass. And neither one of those plays led to points; in fact, both of those drives ended in interceptions."
In the end, the defense had to be this good while Aaron Rodgers and the offense struggled to move the ball consistently on Sunday. However, this is a problem defensive leader Clay Matthews said is a good thing, per Wilde:
"We can complain all we want on the sideline about [the offense not scoring] points, but would the defense want it any other way? For so long now, this has been [an offensive team]. It still is an offensive team. But it's nice when the defense can hold their own, especially in the last couple weeks of doing so, especially when the opposition is having a good defensive game and maybe our offense isn't clicking. These are the types of games that we need sometimes and kind of show our identity.
"
Quinten Rollins on His Two-Pick Day
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Quinten Rollins had the best game of his young career on Sunday. The rookie cornerback, who saw an increase of playing time with some recent injuries in the secondary, picked off Foles twice in the Packers' victory.
His 45-yard pick-six in the first quarter put Green Bay up by two touchdowns and set the tone for the rest of day on defense.
When asked about what he saw on his first pick, Rollins was blunt with his answer, via Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin:
"Green grass. A lot of green grass. We were in one of our quarters call. Two went out, three came to me from the other side, and I just made a break on the ball. It was a pick-six from there.
"
According to Wilde, Rollins wasn't even playing as the third corner in the nickel defense to start the game. That was rookie Damarious Randall's job. In the third series, though, Rollins came in and made an impact right away.
Later, he would get his second interception of the day just moments after getting beaten on a 68-yard completion to Rams receiver Stedman Bailey.
"Honestly, it just makes me that much hungrier to just keep in tune and to get better, whether it’s on special teams, whether it’s on defense, no matter what it is," Rollins said, via Wilde. "Obviously, it helps your confidence. Even if you’re a confident person already, it just adds that much more to it and allows you to play a little looser."
Green Bay's Offensive Line Takes Another Hit
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As soon as the Packers get one of their starting offensive linemen back healthy, they lose another to injury.
Starting right guard T.J. Lang left Sunday's game in the second quarter after his right knee was rolled up on by a Rams defender during a run play. Lang was carted off the field and subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Bryan Bulaga, who missed the previous three games because of knee issues, started at right tackle and didn't have any setbacks. It was a pleasant surprise when Bulaga returned to practice earlier this week for the first time since Week 1.
With Lang's absence, the Packers put in Don Barclay at right guard for the rest of the contest—Barclay started for the injured Bulaga the last few weeks.
Still, the injury bug continues to haunt Green Bay's O-line, and it comes at a bad time.
The Packers failed to get anything going on the ground in Week 5, as Eddie Lacy managed just 27 rushing yards on 12 carries. Backup James Starks wasn't much better—five carries for 17 yards.
It remains to be seen how serious Lang's injury is—MRI tests on Monday should reveal more—but the loss may force the Packers to play Barclay at guard if Lang misses time.
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