The NFL’s Game of the Week was as good as advertised. Two high powered offenses and two talented defenses clashed in the Coliseum and the Los Angeles Rams came out on top defeating the Green Bay Packers 29-27.
The first half was filled with punts, which came as a surprise given the two team’s offensive pedigrees. But Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff could not be stopped in the second half. Goff led the Rams offense to a go-ahead field goal with under three minutes to go and it looked like Rodgers was going to lead another game-winning drive. However, an unlikely hero for the Rams came up big on the ensuing kickoff play, securing the victory for the Rams.
Ramik Wilson Secures the Los Angeles Rams 29-27 Victory Late in the Fourth Quarter
Ramik Wilson Who?
If you were watching the Rams-Packers game Sunday, it had everything you could love about a football game down to the very end. As Greg Zuerlein hit a 34-yard field goal with just over two minutes in the fourth quarter, the game had Rodgers heroic comeback written all over it.
Zuerlein then lined up the ball to kickoff and running back Ty Montgomery opted to return the ball from seven yards deep in his end zone. This proved to be a mistake, as Montgomery got the ball stripped from him before he reached the 20-yard line by linebacker Ramik Wilson. Wilson recovered the fumble which gave the Rams the ball with just under minutes to go, shutting down any chance of a Rodgers comeback.
Wilson signed this off-season to bring depth to the inside linebacker position in Wade Phillips’ defense. Due to the rise of Corey Littleton, Wilson has seen minimal playing time on defense but does make an impact on special teams, none bigger than his forced fumble Sunday afternoon. Rodgers is a dangerous quarterback regardless of the situation and in crunch time he is almost unstoppable, making Wilson’s fumble recovery the play of the Ram’s season thus far.
Josh Reynolds Steps Up
The Rams receivers struggled to get open in the first half of Sunday’s game. For the first time this season, the absence of Cooper Kupp showed in Sean McVay’s offense. Brandin Cooks only caught three of his eight targets while Robert Woods caught five of his seven targets. Kupp is also one of Goff’s favorite red zone threats, but backup receiver Josh Reynolds stepped up Sunday in a big way for the Rams offense.
TWO touchdowns today for former @JayMustangFB product Josh Reynolds! pic.twitter.com/yPpk845i4c
— John Elizondo (@johndelizondo) October 28, 2018
The second-year receiver only had four receptions entering the game, but he hauled in three in the victory, two of which were touchdowns. Reynolds was able to find the holes in the Packers zone coverage and create yards after the catch. Reynolds coming big has to be a boost of confidence for McVay knowing his offense will not skip a beat despite being without Kupp.
Better Late than Never
The defense was not bad in the first three quarters, but it was shaky to say the least. The pass rush was struggling to get to Rodgers, Marcus Peters was getting burnt by Davante Adams and running back Aaron Jones was finding some pretty big holes. But after giving up their third touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Rams defense tightened up. The defense forced the Packers into a three-and-out thanks to great coverage and a sack by Aaron Donald on third down. Donald was able to beat the guard so quickly that Rodgers barely had a chance to look downfield. That stop ended up being huge as the Packers were unable to get the ball back to their offense.
Rams got lucky Aaron Donald got to Rodgers as fast as he did, looked like Rodgers was gonna have Adams open running across the middle. #LARams #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/gx15H77f68
— New Account (@ftbeard_17) October 28, 2018
Todd Gurley for MVP
Todd Gurley has had himself one heck of a season doing a little bit of everything for the Rams offense. Sunday versus the Packers was no different as the running back carried the ball 25 times for 114 yards. The holes were not as prominent as the Rams are used to but he kept grinding away. His run late in the fourth quarter on third down and ten officially sealed the victory for the Rams. Gurley also had the awareness to stop, stay in bounds and not run into the end zone, allowing the Rams to run out the rest of the clock. He contributed 81 yards receiving on six receptions and scored his only touchdown of the afternoon on a 32-yard pass from Goff.
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