Packers can't overlook Rams, but a serious team takes care of business

Week 5 is the season for the Los Angeles Rams. If Green Bay is a serious NFC contender, that doesn't matter.

Sunday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams features two teams with very different things at stake. The Packers need a win to keep pace with the top NFC playoff contenders. The Rams need a win to stay alive.

If Green Bay doesn’t take LA seriously, Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford are good enough to make them pay for it. If the Rams fall to 1-4 on the year, they don’t have time to wait for Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua to get back and try to save the season. The defense stinks. The offensive line can’t block. Still, they have two things that can keep them in any game: a great head coach and quarterback.

At the same time, so do the Packers, and the rest of their roster is immeasurably more talented. If they’re an NFC contender, a team with legitimate aspirations to compete for a Super Bowl, they have to beat the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Forget for a second the Packers are good at anything. Let’s only look at what they can’t do. Right now, they’re last in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate. The good news for Green Bay? The Rams have the worst pass-blocking group in the NFL thanks to a slew of injuries and poor play.

(via @benbbaldwin)

But Peter, you’re saying, there’s more to defense than the pass rush. If the Rams can slow down Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson and force the Packers to play left-handed, their pass rushers can go to work. The Rams are 31st in defensive DVOA -- 31st against the run and 31st against the pass.

This is a bad defensive football team. They’re not particularly talented and they make up for it by being young and inexperienced. If Jordan Love and the Packers offense can go on a 29-3 run against the Minnesota Vikings, then the Rams have no hope to stop them.