1966-1972 - Fearsome Defense

History: The Rams’ best victories over the Green Bay Packers

The St. Louis Rams are traveling to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers during Week 5. These two franchises are familiar with one another, so much so that they have competed a total of 93 times over the years. Currently, the Rams lead the series, 46-45-2. Choosing the top three battles from nearly eight decades of games was challenging, but here they aret:

Date: December 23, 1967- Divisional Round Playoff Game

Result: Packers 28 – Rams 7

The Los Angeles Rams produced an amazing season, with only one blemish on their record. In fact, the Rams  beat the Packers earlier that season at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Unfortunately for the Rams, the Packers had home field advantage at Milwaukee County Stadium during the Divisional playoff game, where the temperatures were much colder than California standards.

The main reason for the Rams’ sudden collapse was because the offense could not get into a rhythm. To put things into perspective, Rams’ quarterback Roman Gabriel only completed 35 percent of his passes for a meager 186 yards and one interception. The only offensive success that the Rams was when Gabriel hit Bernie Casey for a 29-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Nothing was quite the same after that, but it’s hard to maintain a lead when you surrender four turnovers on offense and nearly 400 total yards on defense to a quality team like the 1967 Packers.

Date: January 20, 2002- Divisional Round Playoff Game

Result: Rams 45 – Packers 17

Two high-flying offenses squared off at the Edwards Jones Dome for another tough playoff game. The game featured two teams stacked with offensive players like the Packers’ Brett Farve, Donald Driver, Ahman Green and Bubba Franks going up against the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf.  However, much to everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t the offenses that put up the points; it was the Rams defense.

The Rams’ stingy defense caused a staggering eight turnovers, six of which were interceptions. The first points on the board came from an Aeneas Williams interception return for touchdown. He would later have another. Linebacker Tommy Polley also cashed in with a pick-six of his own. None of thi is to say that the Rams’ offense had an off day, but they certainly didn’t need to work as hard with the defense dominating like it. Touchdown passes from Kurt Warner were just icing on the cake.

Date: October 19, 2003 – Week 7

Result: Rams 34 – Packers 24

The last time the Rams won the NFC West was in 2003. They were 4-2 heading into a key game with the Packers, and they had to do it without the services of running back Marshall Faulk. Instead, the Rams relied on young quarterback Marc Bulger, and he came through. He found wide receiver Torry Holt for two touchdowns and hit Isaac Bruce for nine times for 129 yards.

Backup running back Arlen Harris also contributed more than what was expected, rushing for 85 yards and had one touchdown. The Packers made one final move to comeback with a 76-yard touchdown run late in the game, but Green Bay drew no close. The Rams won 34-24.

Source: Footballdb.com, Pro-football-reference.com

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