Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are just one step away from the 55th Super Bowl.
The old adage that great defense beats great offense might not be applicable in today’s NFL.
It certainly wasn’t on Saturday at Lambeau Field. And now, the Green Bay Packers are just one step away from the 55th Super Bowl.
The Packers’ top-ranked scoring offense dominated the Los Angeles Rams’ No. 1 ranked defense. The result was a 32-18 Green Bay victory in the NFC Divisional playoffs played in front of 8,456 spectators that were remarkably loud throughout.
Green Bay, the conference’s No. 1 seed, improved to 14-3 and advanced to the NFC title game for the fifth time since 2010. The Packers will meet either second-seeded New Orleans (13-4) or fifth-seeded Tampa Bay (12-5) in the conference title game Jan. 24 in Green Bay.
“I was telling all my teammates in there, we gotta kick the door on this one,” said Packers nose tackle Kenny Clark, who’s been to two NFC Championship Games, but lost them both. “This is my third one. Guys don’t even get to one. This is my third NFC Championship I’m going to. We gotta just lock in, kick the door down and get over that hump and get in there.”
The Packers certainly looked like a Super Bowl team in their win over the Rams.
Los Angeles (11-7) finished the regular season ranked first in the league in total defense, points allowed and passing defense, second in sacks and third in rushing defense. On the flip side, Green Bay ranked first in scoring offense, fifth in total offense, eighth in rushing offense and ninth in passing offense.
On Saturday, though, LaFleur’s offense dominated Rams’ defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s unit.
Green Bay scored on its first five possessions — three touchdowns and two field goals — raced to a 25-10 lead and held off the Rams down the stretch. The Packers piled up 484 yards, and Rodgers — the NFL’s presumptive MVP — threw two touchdowns and ran for a third.
Aaron Jones led a dominant Green Bay ground game, rushing for 99 yards and a touchdown. In all, the Packers ran for 188 yards on 36 carries (5.2).
“We’re the No. 1 offense,” Packers wideout Allen Lazard said. “Like I just said, we’re not too worried on who’s on the other side of the ball. We know who we have on our side of the ball.
“Obviously with (Rodgers) back there calling the shots and everything, coach LaFleur and the coaches do a great job of scheming up a great game plan. But I think who we have out there on the field, those 11 guys working all together, doing the best that they can to go out there and dominate, and I think we did a great job of doing that tonight.”
Green Bay got the best of the NFL’s No. 1 defense and scored on all four of its first half possessions. The Packers rolled up 243 first half yards and held the ball for exactly 19 minutes.
Rodgers completed 14-of-20 passes in the first half for 169 yards and a touchdown.
After the teams exchanged first quarter field goals, Rodgers hit Davante Adams with a 1-yard touchdown to give the Packers a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter. On a third-and-goal from the 1, Adams motioned right to left across the field, then came all the way back to the right.
Rodgers was operating from the shotgun, released the ball almost as quickly as it hit his hands, and fired a 1-yard dart to Adams, who had freed himself from Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey due to the motion.
“I think the timing was perfect,” Adams said. “I really had the easy job. It’s just about timing it up and making sure I’m moving full speed because it’s tough to cover all of that ground.
“And the hardest part is turning back and catching the ball that’s inside. That’s probably the toughest part, but even that was easy. I think it was just a great play design and Aaron put that ball out there for me to make a play and I made it.”
On the Packers’ next possession, Rodgers channeled his inner Lamar Jackson on a 1-yard TD run that gave Green Bay a 16-3 lead. Rodgers rolled right and used a pump fake to elude linebacker Leonard Floyd, then beat safety John Johnson to the pylon.
The Rams answered with a 9-play, 75-yard drive capped by Jared Goff’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson that pulled Los Angeles within 16-10. But Green Bay’s Mason Crosby drilled a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the first half and the Packers took a 19-10 lead to the break.
Jones was integral in giving the Packers a 25-10 lead early in the third quarter. Jones ripped off a 60-yard run on the first play of the third quarter, then he capped that drive with a 1-yard touchdown run as the Packers pushed their lead to 25-10.
“We had kind of been running that similar play a couple times and kind of seeing how the defense was fitting it,” Jones said of his long run. “And they put the linebacker over, which left the middle of the field wide open and allowed Corey to climb up to the safety. So it pretty much popped right open and was good blocking up front.”
Late in the third quarter, Rams’ rookie running back Cam Akers lined up in the Wildcat, took a direct snap and scored from 7 yards out. Los Angeles converted the two-point conversion and pulled within 25-18 with 1:45 left in the quarter.
The Packers put things away, though, when Rodgers hit Lazard for a 58-yard touchdown with 7 minutes left that gave Green Bay a 32-18 lead. Lazard ran past cornerback Troy Hill, safety Jordan Fuller was late and Rodgers threw a beautiful ball that Lazard took to the house.
“When the play was called, I was thinking touchdown for sure,” Rodgers said. “Came up off the fake, really tried to sell it, came up off the fake and saw Allen digging, so I knew that kind of both guys had jumped it. Like I said, I did throw it a little more inside than I wanted to, and he made a really nice catch, kept his feet and put that thing away. That was pretty special.”
The Packers now advance to the NFC title game for the fifth time since Rodgers became their starting quarterback in 2008.
Green Bay defeated Chicago, 21-14, in 2010 and went on to win the 45th Super Bowl. The Packers lost at Seattle in 2014, lost at Atlanta in 2016 and lost at San Francisco in 2019.
This will be the first time the Packers have a home game for the NFC Championship Game during the Rodgers-era. And he intends to make the most of it.
“It will be exciting to enjoy this tonight, to celebrate and then to watch the game tomorrow and to know that whoever wins is coming to our place,” Rodgers said.
