The 2-5 Packers are back home this week at Lambeau Field hosting the 3-5 Rams. This is the first time in franchise history the Rams have traveled to Green Bay in three consecutive seasons. Here are six things to keep in mind heading into Sunday’s noon kickoff between the two NFC teams. 

1. Pointless Offense

The Packers offense ranks 21st in the NFL in points for, averaging exactly 20 points per game. After putting up 38 points in Week 1, the Packers scored 24 points in Week 2 (despite the loss). Since then, Green Bay has failed to surpass 20 points in each of their last five games. Think that’s bad? It gets worse. Over the last five weeks, the Packers are averaging only 15.6 points per game. 

History would seem to indicate that the Packers can break their bad luck streak this week against the Rams. Per the dope sheet, Matt LaFleur is 3-0 against the Rams and the Packers have scored 24 or more points in all three contests. That said, Green Bay was also supposed to score a bunch of points against the Raiders, too, and we know how that turned out. 

What seems to be the problem? Well, if I had all the answers I’d be working on a coaching staff somewhere and not writing this column for Cheesehead TV, but contested catches would be a good place to start. Per Zach Kruse of The Packers Wire, Green Bay went 38-of-79 on contested catches in 2022, good for 48.1%. This season, the Packers are averaging only 20.9% on contested balls. That’s certainly no way to live in the NFL. 

Perhaps Green Bay’s offense can get things going against a Rams secondary that had its worst showing of the season last week against the Dallas Cowboys. Los Angeles gave up 304 yards and four touchdowns to Dak Prescott, giving him a quarterback rating of 133.7. Jordan Love hasn’t had a quarterback rating over 91.0 since Week 2. 

2. Running on Empty

The offense isn’t putting up points. We just went over that. So let’s also talk about this abysmal run game. Going into the 2023 season, we all expected Aaron Jones to be the primary weapon on offense. Young quarterback, young receiving core; it made sense. Instead, Jones suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against Chicago and has only been available for four games this year. In those four games, Jones has yet to eclipse 10 rushing attempts. His best outing came Week 1 against the Bears when he had nine carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He added another 86 yards through the air on two receptions with another touchdown, putting him at 127 yards from scrimmage with two scores to open the season. 

Since then, Jones has been limited at best on offense. Call it a pitch count, call it the Packers being overly cautious, but Jones has only carried the ball five times, eight times, and seven times in his last three games. He hasn’t eclipsed his 41-yard rushing total set in Week 1 all season, either. 

Now, it’s hard to get Jones going when the run game has been forgotten through seven games. The Packers offense has only eclipsed 100 rushing yards twice all season (110 against Las Vegas and 137 against Denver), but those totals mean little when Green Bay lost both games. The Packers rank 27th in the league in rushing attempts (162) and 25th in rushing yards (619) so far this season. For the offense to find any type of success heading into the latter half of the year, Green Bay needs to get its run game going. 

3. Nacua Kid On the Block 

Nobody has turned heads this season quite like fifth-round draft pick Puka Nacua. The rookie receiver currently ranks third in the entire NFL with 795 receiving yards through eight games, behind only Tyreek Hill (1,014) and AJ Brown (939). That’s some pretty stellar company to keep. 

Nacua also leads the team with 89 targets and 61 receptions. That’s more than double the second-highest total on the team. Tutu Atwell (28 receptions for 361 yards) comes in second on the team with Cooper Kupp in third (21 receptions for 316 yards), though Kupp has only played four games this season. 

That’s going to be a lot of firepower for Green Bay’s secondary to account for, especially with the departure of Rasul Douglas this week to the Buffalo Bills at the trade deadline. Douglas led all Packers cornerbacks with six passes defensed and 32 total tackles. He was Green Bay’s third best defender via Pro Football Focus with a grade of 75.2 and ranked 18th out of 116 eligible corners. 

The cornerbacks room now consists of Jaire Alexander (back injury), Corey Ballentine, Keisean Nixon, Robert Rochell, and rookie seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine. Alexander said the Packers will win-out at his locker earlier this week, so that’ll have to start on Sunday against the Rams with a shutdown performance from the Alexander-led secondary. 

4. Flag on the Play(s)

Green Bay finished Week 8 against the Vikings with 11 penalties for 99 yards. It was the team’s most penalty yardage of the season, although they also had 11 penalties in Week 3. 

The Packers have 52 penalties in seven games, averaging just over seven penalties and 60.5 penalty yards per contest. Of the team’s accepted penalties, safety Jonathan Owens, edge rusher Kingsley Enagbare, and left tackle Rasheed Walker lead the team with four penalties apiece. 

For Los Angeles, starting cornerback Derion Kendrick has seven penalties. No other Rams player has more than three. Four of Kendrick’s penalties were for defensive pass interference, so if Love and his receivers want to work on the deep ball or contested catches…Kendrick might be the defensive back to target. 

5. It’s Aaron Donald 

Yeah, I’ve got nothing. It’s Aaron Donald. He’s a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, nine-time Pro Bowler, and seven-time First-Team All-Pro. In eight games this season, Donald has 4.5 sacks, seven quarterback knockdowns, and 15 pressures. He’s PFF’s third-best defensive lineman with an elite 89.8 overall grade and a pass rush grade of 90.7. 

Donald will get to line up against a Packers offensive line that’s struggled mightily all season. Elgton Jenkins (61.1) and Jon Runyan Jr. (56.7) are PFF’s 38th and 47th rated guards, respectively, out of 80 candidates, and Josh Myers (55.3) comes in at 29 out of 38 eligible centers. That said, their grades all improve when just looking at pass blocking: Jenkins (73.4), Runyan Jr. (68.2), Myers (71.0). 

If the Packers can’t effectively mitigate Donald at Lambeau Field, they’re going to have more than 99 problems (see what I did there?). Love has been kept relatively clean through seven games, only taking 14 sacks. For Green Bay to have any chance on Sunday, the offensive line can’t let Donald take over the game. 

6. Down and Out

The Packers are 28th in the league in total first downs this season with 122 through seven games. Of those 122 first downs, 31 have come on the ground, 76 through the air, and 15 by penalty. 

Last week against the Vikings, Green Bay had only one rushing first down all game, and the Packers didn’t successfully move the chains until a few minutes before halftime. There’s starting slow and then there’s whatever the heck the Packers have been doing since Week 3. In fact, Green Bay is one of only two teams in the league yet to score a touchdown in the first half at home all season. Think about that…we’re heading into Green Bay’s fourth home game. 

The Packers on average are starting drives on their own 29.5-yard line, which is 10th best in the NFL. Despite that, they’re only averaging 5.61 plays (27th in the league), 26.8 yards (25th in the league) and taking 2:32 per drive (28th in the league). That’s simply not a recipe for success by any metric. 

What I’ll be drinking for the game:

The weather is getting colder which means I am all about the stouts. This week, I’ll be enjoying an Oatmeal Cream Pie Imperial Stout from Whole Hog during the game. Hopefully it’s not the only thing I’ll enjoy, and the game is actually pretty good, too. There’s nowhere to go but up…right? Right? Please somebody say “right.”