Packers-Rams three takeaways: Defense deserves better
2. Packers couldn’t take advantage of first-half dominance
By forcing the Rams to punt on their opening five possessions, the Packers had a golden opportunity to build a lead and put the game out of reach.
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And for a while it looked like they would.
Green Bay marched down the field on its second possession, putting together a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.
Aaron Rodgers found Equanimeous St. Brown for 23 yards on the Packers’ first play of their next possession, and they quickly moved into field goal range. But a decision to run the football on third-and-five stopped the drive short, the Packers held to a Mason Crosby field goal to make it 10-0.
But while the defense continued to dominate, the offense began to struggle. A three-and-out, followed by a five-play drive resulting in another punt kept the Rams in the game, and the momentum swung to the home team when they forced a safety to put their first points on the board.
Jared Goff found Josh Reynolds for a one-yard touchdown at the end of the second quarter. All of a sudden the Packers led by just two points despite dominating for the majority of the first half.
As expected, the Rams were much stronger on offense in the second half. Had the Packers continued to build momentum and add to their lead, they could’ve put the game away.