NFL: Packers 36, Rams 17

The Green Bay Packers came up with a win on the road Sunday over the St. Louis Rams, 36-17. With the victory, the Packers reached a record of 2-1 and move a game behind the division leader, the Minnesota Vikings.

Next week’s game is in Minnesota against long-time Packers signal caller and future first ballot Hall of Famer, Brett Favre. A win would put the Packers in control of the division.

It’s not going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong: Green Bay did some impressive things in this game. Green Bay’s defense continued to force turnovers, with two fumbles and a pick.

On offense, the Packers showed balance in getting over 400 yards. Ryan Grant ran out the clock well as the Packers offense wore down the Rams by the fourth quarter, getting 152 yards on 37 carries. The passing game got back on track with a 250-yard performance in which Aaron Rodgers was 13-23 for 269 yards and two scores; he has yet to have a turnover this season.

The offensive line held the Rams to two sacks even without Chad Clifton, the anchor of the unit. Green Bay got two touchdowns from the fullback position, on a run and reception by John Kuhn.

But that’s about where the positives end. In fact, two of those positives are mitigated by circumstance: the two sacks yielded tripled the Rams total for the season, and the defense still gave up 17 points to an offense that came in with seven total points scored. Green Bay converted only two of nine first downs.

Furthermore, the Packers had only one sack for no yards. They faced back-up quarterback Kyle Boller for most of the game, so holding a career 72.0-rated passer to a 75.2 rating is unimpressive. Brandon Chillar, supposedly the Packers best covering linebacker, allowed two big plays.

Stephen Jackson ran for 117 yards on 27 carries. This is a modest 4.2-yard average considering his talent and the Packers’ focus on stopping the pass once they built a lead, but that does not build confidence preceding a game against Adrian Peterson, who is now far and away the best back in the league.

What’s more, two of the turnovers were somewhat flukish. On one, Marc Bulger appeared to simply lose control of the football without being touched. On the other, Jackson’s fumble was questionable at best.

The special teams were awful again, making the Bears game appear more likely a fluke. Mason Crosby missed an extra point and had another that was converted partially blocked. Will Blackmon’s kick returns were for a pedestrian 22 and 26 yards, and his punt returns an anemic six yards and a one-yard loss…there were also penalties on two of his four returns.

Jeremy Kapinos fared much better than last week punting, with over a 44-yard net average in his four punts. But the coverage units were inconsistent, allowing a 14-yard punt return and a 43-yard kick return, even though the average kick return was just 23 yards. The highlight of the unit was a partial block and recovery of a field goal attempt.

Report Card

• Quarterback: B
• Running Back: C
• Receivers: B
• Offensive Line: D+
• Defensive Line: C
• Linebackers: C-
• Defensive Backs: B-
• Special Teams: D+