The Los Angeles Rams managed to take care of business in their rubber match with the Seattle Seahawks and are now moving on to take on the Green Bay Packers in the NFL’s Divisional Round.
Although the Seahawks may have finished the 2020 NFL season as NFC West champions, the Rams got the last laugh by beating them 30-20 in their own stadium to keep their championship hopes alive. They are now set to hit the road once again to pay a visit to the Packers at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay finished with the best record in the NFC at 13-3 and earned themselves a first-round bye as a result. While the lack of fans takes a major element of home-field advantage away, they are still relishing in the extra week of rest following a grueling season.
The biggest story here will be the matchup between the Rams’ top-ranked defense versus this high-powered offense. One side is led by the favorite to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year in defensive tackle Aaron Donald while the other is a top candidate for MVP in quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Despite suffering a rib injury versus Seattle, L.A. is optimistic that Donald will be back in the mix this week. This is good news considering they will need all the help they can get to contain a player of Rodgers’ caliber and his supporting cast of bonafide playmakers.
Even though all eyes will be fixed on this heavyweight showdown, the game could very well be decided by the other phases, especially special teams. The onus will also fall on quarterback Jared Goff to show that he will not be limited by the thumb injury that initially kept him out versus the Seahawks until quarterback John Wolford went down.
Elsewhere, the NFL has a healthy slate of high-profile matchups set to take place next week. Here is the complete bracket and schedule of the NFL’s Divisional Round:
Saturday, Jan. 16:
NFC No. 6 Los Angeles Rams at No. 1 Green Bay Packers, 1:35 p.m. PT
AFC No. 5 Baltimore Ravens at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 5:15 P.m. PT
Sunday, Jan. 17:
AFC No. 6 Cleveland Browns at No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs, 12:05 p.m. PT
NFC No. 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 2 New Orleans Saints, 3:40 p.m. PT
