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Recap of the Packers' 24-19 win over the Rams in Week 5

Recap of the Packers' 24-19 win over the Rams in Week 5

The Green Bay Packers overcame a wild pick-six by Jordan Love and a 13-10 first-half deficit and used a late defensive stand to escape Los Angeles with a 24-19 victory over the Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium .

Josh Jacobs scored his first Packers touchdown, Xavier McKinney delivered two more takeaways, Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft and Karl Brooks produced two second-half sacks in the win.

The Packers are now 3-2 and return home for Week 6.

Here's what went right, what went wrong, and what it means for the Packers' future:

What went well

– The Packers won the turnover battle again, thanks largely to Xavier McKinney. He recovered a fumble caused by Kingsley Enagbare and fielded to his right to intercept a missed throw by Matthew Stafford, giving him two takeaways that led to 14 points. McKinney now has six takeaways to his name this season. The Packers won the turnover battle 2-1.

– Rookie Edgerrin Cooper had two great performances – both in stunts. He stunted off the edge and sacked Stafford on third down in the first half, forcing a punt. On the crucial 4th-and-3, Cooper stumbled inside and forced a rushing throw from Stafford.

— The explosive plays were once again huge. Jayden Reed made an incredible catch off a Jordan Love lob into triple coverage, providing a 53-yard gain and setting up Josh Jacobs' first touchdown. Later, Tucker Kraft caught a pass from Love and converted it for a 66-yard touchdown after the catch. The two plays accounted for more than half of Love's passing yards.

– The pass rush was quiet for long stretches, but Cooper's sack ended a drive and Karl Brooks had three key plays, including a pressure that caused an interception, a third-down sack that forced a punt and a second-down sack Sack in the last series. There was just enough pressure on the Packers defense to get off the field late.

– Cooper had two key pressure points and rookie Evan Williams defended two passes. Javon Bullard played more snaps in the slot and had a run stop early.

– Love settled in after his pick-six. He completed nine straight passes, including both touchdown passes, helping the Packers score 17 straight points and take control of the game. The mistake — and some of his poor early plays under pressure — could have resulted in a weaker quarterback. Instead, Love steadied the ship and got the Packers back on track.

– Rookie kicker Brayden Narveson made all four of his kicks, including three extra points and a 46-yard field goal. The Rams tried to freeze it with a timeout before the field goal, but Narveson made the kick. For one week, Narveson rewarded the Packers' faith in him.

– The Packers defense made two crucial fourth down stops. One in the first quarter inside the red zone that took away points. And the second time when the game was on the line late.

– The Packers averaged 5.6 yards per play and 7.0 yards per pass attempt, compared to 4.9 yards per play and 4.9 yards pass attempt for the Rams. The Packers were explosive but inconsistent. The Rams lacked efficiency in some key moments.

– The Packers gave the Rams three return kickoff opportunities, but stopped all three returns inside the 30-yard line, missing the touchback spot.

— Josh Jacobs had three more explosive plays. Two runs for 10 yards and a 21-yard catch.

What went wrong?

— Love's interception was an avalanche of errors. The Packers let a protection slip through, allowing a free run from the blind side. Love didn't feel the defender behind him as he rolled to his right and had to make a hasty and chaotic throw to get rid of the ball, which was intercepted and returned for a score. A safety would have been a better result. Anyway, it was a disaster sequence.

– The Packers were 1-for-8 on third down. The only conversion required a challenge from Love on 3rd-and-12. The Rams converted 8 of 16 third downs.

— The pass rush still isn’t disruptive enough in big spots. Like last week, Matthew Stafford played from too many clean pockets in obvious passing situations. The Packers can't get any pressure without bringing in second-level blitzes.

– Dontayvion Wicks is still struggling to cope. He caught two of seven targets, including a clear drop and another missed contested catch opportunity on third down late in the game. Wicks is still separating well, but the hands need to be better. And so forth.

– The Packers were penalized six times for just 34 yards, but the penalties came at inopportune times and often killed momentum. There are always procedural penalties before the snap. The Packers had at least three false starts, including one in the fourth quarter that helped end a drive that lasted eight minutes after halftime but ended in a punt.

– For the fourth time in five games, the Packers allowed a running back to go over 90 yards. Kyren Williams ran hard and turned 22 carries into 102 yards. Williams, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor and Aaron Jones all rushed for at least 90 yards, and Williams, Barkley and Taylor topped 100 yards.

What it means

The Packers survived a difficult week and were able to avoid starting conference play 0-3. Matt LaFleur's team lost at home to a division rival last week and had to play on the road against a Super Bowl-winning head coach and quarterback while dealing with an internal distraction (Romeo Doubs' suspension) and a lengthy injury report. It all looked like a recipe for disappointment. While the Packers were sloppy, sometimes good teams have to win ugly games when they aren't playing their best. Once again, it feels like the Packers are close. The offense needs to be fundamentally better, but most of the missed opportunities were self-inflicted mistakes. The defense tried to create pressure with blitz attacks, but is still not good enough to apply pressure with four attacks. At 3-2, the Packers have a chance to go home and prove their status as a contender next month. Over the next four weeks, they face the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field.

Highlights

What's next?

The Packers return to Green Bay to host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. The Cardinals came from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers on the road on Sunday and improve to 2-3 after five games. Jonathan Gannon's team played against the 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions earlier this season, so they will be battle tested in Green Bay.

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