Packers oust Goff, Rams from playoffs
MC alum Goff makes first start since surgery
The vivid last image of Rams football in the 2020 season will be somebody finally out-smarting and out-muscling their leagueleading defense.
It was summed up in the moment Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers pump-faked linebacker Leonard Floyd into the air, ran around him and outsprinted safety John Johnson to the right end-zone pylon for a crucial touchdown.
It showed up in the stats that showed the Packers’ top-scoring offense becoming the first team to pile up 400 yards, and very nearly 500 yards, against the Rams’ league-leading defense.
It added up, over four quarters at frigid Lambeau Field on Saturday afternoon, to a 32-18 Packers victory in an NFC Divisional playoff game that ended the
Rams’ year.
In part because of Rodgers’ basketball move, it’s now basketball and hockey season in L.A.
While the top-seeded Packers move on to host New Orleans or Tampa Bay in the NFC championship game next weekend, the Rams will be licking physical and emotional wounds.
“You’ve come so far, you come here, play against the top seed, feel good for most of the game, feel like you’ve got a chance to win, and obviously you come up short,” said quarterback Jared Goff, a former Marin Catholic standout. “It is tough and disappointing.”
Nobody looked more upset than All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who was being comforted on the sideline at the end of a game in which he was clearly limited by the rib injury he suffered in the Rams’ Wildcard Round win over the Seattle Seahawks.
“Just hard for him, for a guy like that, to work as hard as he does,” defensive
end Michael Brockers said. “I promise you, he’ll be doing something (working out) next week.
“I’ve just got to talk to him and let him know, ‘That’s not on you. You gave it everything you had. You’re the reason we’re here.’ “
While the defense was hampered by Donald’s injury, the offense was hurt by the absence of teamleading receiver Cooper Kupp and left guard David Edwards, and Goff was making his first start since surgery to repair his fractured and dislocated
throwing thumb.
Goff had a day to be proud of, completing 21 of 27 passes for 174 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers, while being sacked four times.
Cam Akers rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
But with Donald on the sideline too often, the defense couldn’t stop the league’s highest-scoring offense, led by the Packers’ backs, who rushed for nearly 200 yards, and Rodgers, who passed for nearly 300 and two touchdowns.
The Rams came out of halftime trailing by nine and knowing their strong second-half defense this season gave them a chance.
They knew that all the way up to the first play after the break, when Packers running back Aaron Jones broke away for a 60-yard run to the Rams’ 15. Five plays later, Jones broke a tackle by Troy Reeder and tumbled into the end zone from one yard out for a 2510 lead.
The Rams weren’t done yet.
Goff, whose season could have been over when he broke his thumb in Week 16 and John Wolford played well in his place, led a 79yard drive for a Cam Akers touchdown and two-point conversion that made it 2518.
The 7-yard TD came on the third direct snap of the day to Akers, and the twopointer came on a clever play that saw Goff complete a pass to Van Jefferson, who lateraled to Akers on the left edge.
But the Packers all but put the game away when Rodgers hit Allen Lazard for a 58-yard scoring catchand-run with 6:44 to play.