The Green Bay Packers haven’t won a game since rallying past the New Orleans Saints 18-17 on Sept. 24. It was 17-0 in the third quarter when the Packers knocked quarterback Derek Carr out of the game.
Last week, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ day ended with a torn Achilles in the fourth quarter. The Packers, trailing 24-10 at the time, couldn’t take advantage of backup Jaren Hall’s turnover and lost by that same score.
On Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, the expectation is Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford will be inactive. He left last week’s loss against Dallas with an injured thumb on his throwing hand.
The belief all along has been Stafford would not play; the line at FanDuel Sportsbook moved from Packers by 3 to Packers by 3.5 on Adam Schefter’s Saturday night report.
If the Packers can’t beat a Rams team quarterbacked by Brett Rypien, they might not win a game the rest of the season.
If that’s hyperbole, it’s only a little.
Rypien is one of the worst backup quarterbacks in the NFL; a recent CBS ranking of No. 2 options placed him at No. 29. In four series against Dallas last week, he was 5-of-10 passing for 42 yards. He led the Rams to one field goal, three first downs and 54 yards.
An undrafted free agent in 2019, Rypien made his first NFL start for Denver at the Jets during the COVID season of 2020. The Broncos won 37-28 with Rypien going 19-of-31 passing for 242 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Rypien started for the Broncos against the Jets again in 2022, this time a 16-9 loss. He was 24-of-46 passing for 225 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception. Later that season, he helped the Broncos to a 24-15 victory over Arizona. He was a sharp 21-of-26 passing for 197 yards with one touchdown, though he threw one interception and fumbled twice (one lost).
In total, Rypien has played in nine games. He’s 85-of-140 passing for 60.7 percent. That’s not very good but it’s better than Green Bay’s Jordan Love. However, the numbers the Packers must take advantage of: four touchdowns vs. eight interceptions and five fumbles. Sunday’s game against Dallas marked his only career game of more than two passing attempts in which he did not throw an interception.
The nephew of Mark Rypien, who was MVP of Washington’s Super Bowl win over Buffalo, isn’t big (6-foot-1 3/4), doesn’t have a big arm (1-for-14 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield in 2022 and 2023) and isn’t athletic (4.91 in the 40). Small hands (9 inches) probably factor in the fumbles. He’s rushed 11 times for 2 yards in his career.
Defensively, Green Bay enters Sunday tied for last in the NFL with six takeaways. It’s intercepted four passes (tied with the Rams for second-fewest) and recovered two fumbles (also tied with the Rams, among others, for second-fewest).
Stafford or no Stafford, the Rams will have their two big-time receivers, All-Pro Cooper Kupp and rookie sensation Puka Nacua. The Packers traded one of their big-time cornerbacks, Rasul Douglas, to Buffalo. Rookie seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine could start at corner and rookie seventh-round pick Anthony Johnson could start at safety.
How valuable is Stafford? In 2022, the Rams went 3-6 with him and 2-6 without him. While there’s not much of a difference record-wise, the Rams failed to top 17 points in six of those eight games. In 2019, his final season in Detroit, the Lions went 3-4-1 with Stafford but 0-8 without him.
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