PACKERS ROLL OVER RAMS; BILLS DOWN RAVENS
Rodgers in playoff form as Pack welcome back fans with win vs. Rams
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Don’t tell Aaron Rodgers the lack of capacity crowds in a pandemic will limit the Packers’ home-field advantage in the NFC Championship Game.
He has been waiting too long for this moment to think that way.
Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Packers beat the Rams 32-18 in an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday. He will play a conference championship game at home for the first time in his Hall of Famecaliber career.
‘‘I’m definitely a little emotional, just thinking about what we’ve been through,’’ said Rodgers, who was 23-for-36 for 296 yards. ‘‘It got me emotional with the crowd out there today.’’
Rodgers threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams in the second quarter and a gameclinching 58-yarder to Allen Lazard in the fourth. He also had a one-yard touchdown run, the first by a Packers quarterback in a playoff game at Lambeau Field since Bart Starr’s winning sneak in the Ice Bowl against the Cowboys on Dec. 31, 1967.
The Packers reached the NFC Championship Game for the fourth time in the last seven seasons as they chase their first Super Bowl berth in a decade, but it will be their first NFC title contest at Lambeau since they hosted the game after the 2007 season, when they fell to the Giants 23-20 in overtime.
The game against the Rams showed what a home-field edge can mean. The Packers played in front of 8,456 fans, including paying spectators for the first time all season, but that small crowd made plenty of noise.
Rodgers said it felt as though there were 50,000 fans. Running back Aaron Jones said it seemed more like 80,000, and Lazard said, ‘‘It felt like 90,000, honestly.’’
That crowd chanted ‘‘MVP!’’ during the closing minutes in a salute to Rodgers.
‘‘It’s hard to really put into words how special that feeling is, but you can feel it,’’ Rodgers said. ‘‘It’s so palpable. You can feel the energy in the stadium. It’s just different. It’s different playing in front of a crowd. It’s a little more special and, obviously, more sweet.’’
Rodgers helped the Packers’ potent offense overpower the Rams’ vaunted defense for much of the day.
The Packers didn’t allow any sacks despite playing without injured left tackle David Bakhtiari, and Jones ran for 99 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, including a 60-yard burst to open the second half.
‘‘Definitely not happy,’’ Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. ‘‘A lot of the guys feel like it’s on them . . . . Everybody had their hand in it. We just weren’t clicking on all cylinders.’’
Rams quarterback Jared Goff was 21-for-27 for 174 yards and a touchdown less than three weeks after having surgery on his broken right (throwing) thumb, and Cam Akers rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown.
The Packers scored on each of their first five possessions and led 25-10 early in the third quarter. But after the Rams finally forced a punt midway through the third, they capitalized with Akers’ seven-yard touchdown run on a direct snap. They pulled to 25-18 when Van Jefferson caught a pass from Goff and lateraled to Akers, who strolled into the left corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion.
The Rams forced another punt and got the ball at their 6, but defensive tackle Kenny Clark notched one of the Packers’ four sacks and stalled the drive. Rodgers connected with Lazard on the clinching touchdown pass on the next series.
‘‘We were definitely feeling a little bit of pressure,’’ Lazard admitted. ‘‘Our expectation is to go out and score every single drive because we know that the only people that are stopping us is us.’’