Packers' schedule gives them a track to home field advantage, while Rams defense needs to improve quickly | You Pod to Win the Game
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson and Frank Schwab discuss the Packers 36-28 victory over the Rams. Could the Packers steal home field in the NFC from the Cardinals? Can the Rams fix their issues on both sides of the ball and end their 3-game losing streak?Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
[CROWD CHEERING]
CHARLES ROBINSON: Green Bay beats the Los Angeles Rams 36 to 28. Green Bay, obviously, at home moves to 9 and 3. Now they go into a bye. I looked at the schedules and when you compare their schedule versus Arizona's, and obviously the fact that Green Bay is one game back, but if they finish with the same record--
FRANK SCHWAB: Yeah, they got the tiebreaker.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --they got the tiebreaker from the head-to-head, they got a track here to that number one seed. They've got a track to a bye, they've got a track to Lambeau Field, which is going to be [BLEEP] for teams in January, OK? It's going to be cold and it's going to be terrible. And, oh by the way, all the contenders are either warm weather teams or dome teams this year in the NFC.
FRANK SCHWAB: But Tampa Bay, they could never win at Lambeau Field. They're an NFL team.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, I know, I know. Yeah. I mean, let's see if the pass rush is where it's at.
FRANK SCHWAB: No, but I get it, I get it.
CHARLES ROBINSON: You know, you're right. I mean, that's what I thought too, but I'm like hey.
FRANK SCHWAB: It's the one true home field advantage left, really, because--
CHARLES ROBINSON: I swear it is.
FRANK SCHWAB: --nobody wants to go to Lambeau. Nobody. Trust me. I'm from Wisconsin, obviously. Nobody wants to go to Green Bay in January. There's a reason I live in Denver.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think Kansas City-- I still think Kansas City-- I think if Denver was a dominant team right now and I think Green Bay. Those are the three-- those are the three where I'm like--
FRANK SCHWAB: Yeah, Superdome I think if the Superdome was-- yeah that's the only other place.
CHARLES ROBINSON: And then Seattle. And then obviously Seattle. I really think there's like maybe five where you're like, that's just absolutely, you know--
FRANK SCHWAB: I get it.
CHARLES ROBINSON: You know, we'll see. Maybe I'll change my mind about Buffalo if somebody's got to go to Buffalo in late January or whatever. But, you know how it is. I think, to me, this was a tremendously important game for Green Bay to win.
A couple of things I saw in this game. I think Rashan Gary-- if all of a sudden Rashan Gary-- if this is Rashan Gary that we're seeing now-- really active, creating havoc off the edge for Green Bay-- that's a huge plus for them down the stretch. Douglas, the corner, another guy that I think is really aggressive, has shown up multiple games now.
FRANK SCHWAB: Yeah, he's turned his career around.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, really turned his career-- and another guy that I think really could be a factor for them down the stretch. Conversely, though,
I'm curious what you thought about the Rams because a lot of people jumped on Stafford. I saw that afterward Sean McVay was really defending Stafford. I don't know that-- I mean, like, I didn't think it was the worst game that Stafford's ever has. It's because he keeps throwing these pick-sixes, they get frustrating. But I was like, I don't know, I thought the Rams defense to me, honestly, was more troubling than Matt Stafford.
I mean, Matt Stafford, by and large, I mean, he had bad stretches but they could have won this game if the Rams defense would have just played a little bit better. Like, the Rams defense was not good against the Packers.
FRANK SCHWAB: Right, I agree with that. And at some point you wonder-- I know they got, you know, Jalen Ramsey kind of a roamer or whatever, I forget the position they gave him-- but at some point it's like, well, they got Davante Adams. Why don't we just stick the best cornerback in the NFL on him today?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right.
FRANK SCHWAB: I don't know.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
FRANK SCHWAB: And it's easy to-- you know, they've had a lot of success with Ramsey being in this-- basically, it's almost Charles Woodson role where he's just making plays from wherever, but in a game like this you do second guess. You say, you know, maybe that match-up would have worked out a little bit better for you because their defense got torched.
You know, on Stafford, he just isn't that guy. He is a good quarterback. He is not an elite quarterback. He's not one of these guys who's just going to carry an offense. We talked about this when you did the training camp preview-- or training camp tour-- and I mean you talked, we did a video, and you could go back-- I said, if Matt Stafford was-- I get it. Detroit is a bad situation. I get that.
If Matt Stafford was that dude who was one of the five guys on this planet who just says it doesn't matter who the coach is, doesn't matter who the teammates are, I can carry us to wherever we need to go, we would have seen it over 13 years. Like, he made one Pro Bowl in 13 years. I'm not saying he's bad quarterback. I don't think he is. I think he's good. I think he's top, probably, 10-ish.
But he's-- I mean, the Rams acted like they got 1984 Dan Marino and that's just ain't it. Like, he's good. You could win with him, for sure. He's had some good games. But it goes back to look at his track record against good teams and look at the Rams this season against good teams. They beat the Buccaneers. Great. Quadrant one win, if we're being the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
Every other game they've played against a good team they've no-showed. I don't think this Rams team is-- and maybe they can get better, maybe they can get hot in late December and carry that into the playoffs, but as we're sitting here right now, do you trust the Rams to go beat three quality teams probably on the road each game in the playoffs? I don't right now because they just haven't shown that against quality teams.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I don't know. Like, I just don't see this, you know, defense clicking the way it's supposed to for the superstars that you have on it.
FRANK SCHWAB: And I think they missed Brandon Staley. They do. Like, I mean, he called a great season last year. But I just don't know that-- I think they just miss him. There's a reason that guy got a head coaching job at the age he did.