Monday Night Football Preview: Baker Mayfield leads Rams into frozen tundra to take on Aaron Rodgers, Packers

Los Angeles Rams (4-9) at Green Bay Packers (5-8)

Time/TV: 7:15 p.m. CT/ESPN

The Green Bay Packers return from their Week 14 bye hoping to make one final, desperate push at a playoff spot as the Los Angeles Rams pay a visit to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Green Bay can still make it to 9-8 if it manages to win out, a scenario that would have to begin with a win over L.A. Monday night.

For Los Angeles, hopes of a playoff berth have long since disappeared. The Rams are without a draft pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, meaning potential tanking is not in play – and with plenty of pride on the line, Los Angeles would love nothing more than to dash the Packers’ hopes for a season above .500. If the Rams showed fans anything with their frantic, come-from-behind win last Thursday night over the Raiders, it is that they are still fighting hard despite the season’s outcome already being known. Perhaps fighting hardest is quarterback Baker Mayfield, who miraculously led L.A.’s comeback last week despite having a mere two days to learn the Rams’ playbook. Mayfield hopes that with more time to prepare, the results will look even better at Green Bay.

The environment will be uninviting for the warm-weather Rams, who will play their first game of the season in below-freezing temperatures on Monday night. Temperatures are expected to hover in the teens Monday night in Green Bay, with a decent chance of a passing snow shower during the game. As far as the Packers are concerned, the conditions will be ideal for welcoming a team from sunny southern California.

The Rams’ injury report continues to read like a laundry list of the team’s stars entering Monday night. Los Angeles is still without Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Aaron Donald, among others. Green Bay comes into Monday night with a relatively clean bill of health, although left tackle David Bakhtiari’s absence is a potential cause for worry.

If the Rams have excelled in any area this season, it has been in their ability to stop the run. Los Angeles is allowing the fifth-fewest rush yards per game in the NFL. Unfortunately for the L.A. defense, Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers will come into Monday night with a fully healthy receiving corps with expected return of Romeo Doubs.

The real budding star of the Green Bay receiving corps has been Christian Watson, a rookie out of North Dakota State. Watson has amassed eight touchdowns over the Packers’ last four games, including a 46-yard run to put the Bears away last week.

Green Bay has defeated Los Angeles each of the last two seasons at Lambeau Field, including a 32-18 win in the Divisional Round two seasons ago.