The Green Bay Packers have kept their playoff hopes alive! They improved to 6-8 against the woeful Los Angeles Rams who saw their offensive line diminish even further in this game. It was far from a perfect game, but the Packers did what they needed to do and are still alive in their hunt for the playoffs. Here I highlight three studs and three duds from the Monday Night Football showdown.
Three Studs
AJ Dillon
How can a guy score two touchdowns and not be the first stud on the list? He can’t, so he won’t. AJ Dillon did not rack up monster yards, but he bruised and bullied the Rams defensive line enough to punch in two touchdown runs. He ended the game with 11 carries for 36 yards and those two scores. Dillon also caught all three of his targets in the passing game for another 35 yards.
december aj dillon: good for your fantasy team pic.twitter.com/I2xH3sw0Iu
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) December 20, 2022
Keisean Nixon
Listen, I know that there are flashier stats that return yards. However, the Packers have gone so long without a decent kick returner that it is hard not to put Keisean Nixon here. Not only did he have three tackles on defense, but he also had three kick returns for 95 yards and two punt returns for 36. Chalk up ANOTHER 100-yard return day for Nixon, who is on the verge of making Packers’ history.
.@keiseannixon might be one of the best returners in the league 👏
📺: #LARvsGB on ESPN
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/GEDpprVg3K pic.twitter.com/hz8UZsDnlQ— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2022
Preston Smith
Look, there could have been several guys that got my last stud spot for this game. Romeo Doubs caught all five of his targets for 55 yards in his first game back from injury. Aaron Jones had 126 total yards and a touchdown reception. Rookies Kingsley Enagbare and Quay Walker each had sacks and deflected some passes. Kenny Clark was a force in the middle.
However, I decided to go with Preston Smith, who had not one, but two sacks on the night. He now has 7.5 sacks on the season.
.@PrestonSmith94 gets the sack & forces the Rams to punt! 😤#LARvsGB | #GoPackGo
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/uOc0Zx8bmW
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 20, 2022
Three Duds
Rasul Douglas
I know he intercepted Baker Mayfield, but what was with that lateral? Did Douglas not watch the end of the Patriots-Raiders game? Additionally, Douglas was burned all night for long passing plays. The lone touchdown that the Packers defense gave up happened on the receiver Douglas was covering.
He simply has to be better.
Adrian Amos
There is no way to put this lightly: Adrian Amos is having a bad season. With the exception of the lateral, everything written about Rasul Douglas above can be applied to Amos. Going into Monday Night, quarterbacks had a passer rating of 127.6 when targeting Amos. Almost all the big plays (the few that there were) that the Rams had came with Amos somewhere nearby. He had a nice tackle for loss on a run, but his overall play left a great deal to be desired.
Allen Lazard
Allen Lazard is great at a lot of things, particularly at blocking downfield. However, he had an off night tonight. In particular, it appeared as if he gave up on the route on the play in which Aaron Rodgers threw an interception. One has to wonder why he stopped running on that route. In any case, he did not get many more looks after that, catching just one pass for seven yards.
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