Defense Bails Out Green Bay Packers After Rare Sloppy Offensive Performance

Almost everything Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers does tends to be spectacular...even when it's not positive.

Not only did Rodgers end his streak of home games without an interception that stretched back to December 2012, but he did it in rather spectacular form, throwing not one but two interceptions and adding a fumble into the mix.

It's nothing to be celebrated, for sure, but Rodgers still made headlines for his performance on Sunday—just for the wrong reasons. 

It was the quarterback's first multiturnover game at home in years, and though he threw two touchdowns, those mistakes could have jeopardized the Packers' chance to win the game.

However, Green Bay's defense made four interceptions, keeping the Rams off the scoreboard. 

Of course, St. Louis did enough to hurt its own cause. Kicker Greg Zuerlein missed three field goals that could have made the score either 21-13, 21-16 or 21-19, respectively, which would have made mounting a comeback much easier for St. Louis. 

But Green Bay's defense did its part and then some. 

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers dialed up the blitz against the Rams, and the offensive line had no answers, keeping Foles under duress for most of the game. That, in turn, allowed the secondary to make some big plays against the frazzled quarterback. 

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

The first dagger came near the end of the first quarter, with the Rams trailing by seven points.

On 3rd-and-9, Packers defensive lineman Datone Jones hit Rams quarterback Nick Foles, who tried to throw the ball to tight end Jared Cook while falling. 

It wasn't Cook, however, but Packers rookie cornerback Quinten Rollins who nabbed the ball and took it all the way to the house for not only his first career interception but his first touchdown as a result of a pick.

The Rams were still in their own territory at the time of Rollins' pick, so there's no telling whether or not the rookie halted what would have proved to be a scoring drive.

But it certainly gave the Packers a 14-0 lead that would prove essential as the Rams went on to score 10 points before the Packers scored another. 

You wouldn't guess it from the game's final score, but the Rams didn't necessarily have trouble getting into the red zone on Sunday. However, they were rarely able to convert those trips into points. 

Twice when the Rams had marched to within the Packers' 10-yard line, defenders were able to pick Foles off in the end zone.

The first end-zone interception came with nine minutes, nine seconds left to go in the fourth quarter. The Rams were on Green Bay's 7-yard line in a 3rd-and-goal situation. Out of the shotgun, Foles attempted to find tight end Lance Kendricks in the end zone, but Joe Thomas got a hand on the ball, and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix rushed in to secure the pick. 

A Rams touchdown on that play would have reduced the Packers' lead to four points with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, a situation that certainly could have led to a very different outcome. 

Later in the fourth quarter, it was like deja vu. 

Inside the two-minute warning, the Rams once again found themselves at 3rd-and-goal at Green Bay's 7-yard line. They were trailing by 14 points, so even had they scored at that point, the win would have been elusive. 

But the Packers defense didn't even give them the opportunity to try to mount the comeback. Foles looked for receiver Tavon Austin on a short pass to the right, but Rollins once again stepped in front of the ball, ending any thoughts of a comeback and, effectively, the game. 

The black mark on the day for Green Bay's defense was the run defense allowing rookie Rams rusher Todd Gurley 159 rushing yards on the ground, more than it allowed Seattle's Marshawn Lynch, Kansas City's Jamaal Charles or San Francisco's Carlos Hyde over the last three weeks. 

However, Green Bay lost Nick Perry (shoulder) and B.J. Raji (groin), both of whom have been instrumental to the recent success of the rushing defense, to injuries against the Rams, which put a strain on the front's ability to stop the run. 

The Rams ended the day with more total yards than the Packers: 334 to 322, respectively.

But even though the defense had trouble containing the run, allowing 191 rushing yards in all, the four interceptions (defensive back Micah Hyde got in on the action too), three sacks and whopping 12 quarterback hits limited the Rams when it mattered and ultimately kept them from taking a lead at any point in the game. 

It was on the Rams to capitalize on the rare sloppy play of the Packers offense; in addition to Rodgers' two interceptions (one of which was off a tipped ball) and fumble, no rusher had more than 40 yards for Green Bay, and the offense was rather one-dimensional as a result. 

But Green Bay's defense took away enough of the Rams' chances to do so that it helped mitigate the unusual mistakes on offense. 

"The defense was clearly the key to our victory," head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game, per the team's Twitter account. "Good team win today."