Packers 33, Rams 14
There were no surprises at the Edward Jones Dome Sunday afternoon.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre continued his assault on the NFL record book and his quest of the MVP award.
The Rams continued their season-long pattern of crumbling during the second half. Once again failed to build on a solid first-half performance — even with Steven Jackson plowing for 143 yards.
So Green Bay pulled away to a 33-14 victory to clinch a first-round playoff bye. Along the way, Favre became the league’s all-time career passing yards leader in the process, passing Dan Marino.
Plenty of Green Bay fans ventured south through the snow to enjoy the record-setting show.
Rams safety O.J. Atogwe picked off two of Favre’s deep throws up the right sideline, but Brett kept firing away. As for the Rams offense . . . well, it just stopped firing altogether Packers forced Marc Bulger into catch-up mode.
So the Rams fell to 3-11 in this forgettable season with two losses, er, games left on their schedule.
Many things went wrong for them, as usual. Breakdowns in the kicking game gave the Packers a lot of short fields. Penalty after penalty hurt the Rams on both sides of the ball.
Bulger suffered two interceptions on passes off the hands of his receivers. And, yes, he took some monstrous hits as well.
Aside from Jackson’s Pro Bowl-caliber performance, there weren’t many positives for the Rams. Which is pretty much what everybody expected.
Let this roasting begin.