The Green Bay Packers (5-0) will host the St. Louis Rams (0-4) at Lambeau Field on Sunday in a game that will be a reunion of sorts for three former Packers. Rams cornerback Al Harris, linebacker Brady Poppinga and backup cornerback Josh Gordy may all see playing time against their former teammates.
St. Louis is coming off their bye week and is still looking to get their first win of the season. The Rams are at the bottom of the NFC West division and are one of three teams left in the NFL without a single win. They are still adjusting to a new offensive scheme under new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and have had key players banged up.
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has thrown 3 touchdowns, 1 interception and has a 70.8 passer rating after four games. Compared to Bradford, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown 14 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and has a league-leading 122.9 passer rating after five games. Bradford has 849 total passing yards to Rodgers’ 1,721 passing yards this year.
Aaron Rodgers has become the first quarterback ever to start the season with a rating over 100 in each of his first five games. He also has a new commercial that premiered last Sunday. If you have not yet seen it, you can watch the commercial here.
The Packers will most likely be without both starting offensive tackles. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga returned to practice this week wearing a knee brace and may miss his third straight game, after he sustained a knee injury in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears. Left tackle Chad Clifton will miss several weeks after he suffered a hamstring injury last week against Atlanta. Marshall Newhouse and rookie Derek Sherrod will probably start at left and right tackle, respectively.
Green Bay signed offensive lineman Ray Dominguez to the active roster from the practice squad to add depth to the line and placed safety Nick Collins on injured reserve.
The Green Bay Packers can secure a victory against the St. Louis Rams, if they address three key issues during the game.
1. Contain Steven Jackson
After Sam Bradford, running back Steven Jackson is one of the best players on the Rams’ team. He will return to the lineup this week after missing the last two due to a quad injury. He is an explosive power runner with excellent speed. Before his injury, he averaged 5.4 yards on 23 carries.
2. Exploit the Rams’ O-Line
If the Packers’ defense can force the Rams to pass, then they can take advantage of the Ram’s offensive line that has given up a plethora of sacks this season. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was sacked 18 times in the first four games of the season.
St. Louis signed free-agent right guard Harvey Dahl from Atlanta to help improve the offensive line’s interior blocking, but they have not had much success so far this season.
3. No Turnovers
Green Bay heads into Lambeau as the 15-point favorite and should have no problem beating St. Louis on Sunday. Perhaps the only way the Packers could lose the game would be to turn the ball over several times.
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