Packers advance to NFC Championship, beat Rams 32-18
Aaron Rodgers (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers are headed back to the NFC Championship game after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 32-18 at Lambeau Field on Saturday, Jan. 16.
The team will learn its opponent for that game on Sunday -- the winner of the New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Green Bay played both teams during the regular season. In Week 3, the Packers beat the Saints 37-30 in New Orleans. Two weeks later, they lost 38-18 to the Buccaneers in Tampa -- their worst loss of the season.
Kickoff for the NFC Championship is slated for 2:05 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24 -- a game you'll see only on FOX6!
The championship game berth is the second in as many seasons for Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur. Last season, Green Bay lost at San Francisco 37-20.
It will be the first time quarterback Aaron Rodgers plays at Lambeau Field in a conference championship game. The loss at San Francisco aside, Rodgers and the Packers played and lost at Atlanta in 2017 and at Seattle in 2015.
Rodgers' lone championship game win also came on the road -- at Chicago in 2011 -- as the team went on to victory in Super Bowl XLV.
First Quarter
The Packers kicked off to the Rams to open the game, but the offense quickly took the field. The Green Bay defense forced three-and-out on Los Angeles' opening possession, prompting a punt.
The Green & Gold drove into goal-line territory but could not find the end zone -- settling for a Mason Crosby field goal for the game's first score.
Later in the first, the Rams drove into Packers territory. Kicker Matt Gay hit a field goal to even the score at 3-3.
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Second Quarter
The Packers were in possession to start the second frame. Continuing a drive that began with more than four minutes in the first quarter, Aaron Rodgers completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams at the goal line -- the first touchdown of the game.
Rodgers found the end zone later in the quarter, but did it himself; a 1-yard touchdown scramble put the Packers up by two scores. A bad snap on the extra point led to a failed opportunity to build the team's lead, though.
Los Angeles answered with a touchdown of their own. Jared Goff completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson -- trimming their deficit to four points.
A response from the Packers came in short order. With less than 30 seconds left in the half, Rodgers drove the team 54 yards downfield in two plays. After three incomplete passes, it set up Crosby for a field goal.
Third Quarter
Green Bay received the second-half kickoff and rushed down the field with little resistance. Aaron Jones rumbled 60 yards on the first play of the half and later scored from the 1-yard line. The Packers went for, but did not convert, a two-point conversion.
The Rams answered later in the quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Cam Akers. Akers then converted a two-point conversion on a pass from Goff.
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Fourth Quarter
Both teams were held off the scoreboard to start the final quarter -- but Allen Lazard changed that with a 58-yard touchdown reception at the seven-minute mark. Mason Crosby split the uprights on the extra point, giving the Green & Gold a 14-point lead.
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