The NFL is putting the holidays to work early this year, and the Rams-Packers meeting is the one that gets Thanksgiving week rolling. The matchup lands on Wednesday night, Nov. 25, with kickoff set for 8 p.m. ET from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
It’s a notable spot on the calendar for a few reasons. The league is calling it its first early Thanksgiving start, and it also comes with a little extra stagecraft: U2 is set for the halftime performance.
The game also reconnects two teams that haven’t seen each other in two years. Los Angeles brings a five-game winning streak against Green Bay into the matchup, though the Packers’ last win in the series came on the road.
Tickets are already on the market, with the get-in price listed at $260. Loge level seats start at $315, while lower level seats begin at $530.
For the Rams, the Thanksgiving Eve game sits in the middle of a schedule that already includes wins over the Giants, Eagles and Cardinals, along with losses to the 49ers, Broncos, Bills and Cardinals. After the Packers, Los Angeles stays busy with the Chiefs on Thursday, Dec. 3, then later visits the 49ers, hosts the Cowboys, travels to Seattle on Christmas Day and closes with games against the Buccaneers and Seahawks.
Green Bay’s path to this trip includes wins over the Jets, Buccaneers, Bears and Cowboys, plus losses to the Vikings, Falcons and Patriots. The Packers will come out of their bye before heading to Los Angeles, then roll into a December slate that includes the Saints, Bills, Dolphins, Bears and Texans, with a final home game against the Lions listed as TBD.
In Other News...
Packers Defense Faces A Bigger Test Than Just Beating Detroit
The Packers and Lions are set to run it back after their Thanksgiving meeting, and this version of the matchup looks a lot different on both sides of the ball. Injuries have reshaped the defensive outlook for each team, which puts even more pressure on the pass rush to show up against quarterbacks Jared Goff and Jordan Love, two players who have helped drive this rivalry into one of the NFCs more interesting weekly measuring sticks.
Green Bays challenge goes beyond simply trying to beat Detroit again. The Packers are trying to keep their front intact while dealing with health issues up and down the roster, and the strain at defensive tackle has become impossible to ignore. In the middle of all that, the urgency around fortifying the defensive line has grown, because if the Packers cannot generate disruption up front, the rest of the matchup gets a lot tougher in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Love Is Giving Packers Fans A Wild New Debate
Jordan Love has spent much of this season taking a beating behind a Packers line that has already allowed 13 sacks and left him getting hit 30 times, but he has kept Green Bay afloat anyway. Even with the physical toll, Love has stayed near the top of the league in passing yards and touchdowns, which has helped fuel a 4-2 start and turned him into one of the biggest reasons the Packers have been able to navigate the early part of the schedule.
The bigger question now is how long he can keep balancing production with punishment. Love is doing enough to make people around the league take notice, and the case for him as one of the NFLs more intriguing quarterbacks has only grown louder as the wins pile up. For Packers fans, the debate is no longer whether he can lead this team, but how high his ceiling really is if the protection in front of him does not improve. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Must Deal With Detroit's Most Dangerous Weapon Sunday
Ahead of Sundays Week 7 matchup, Matt LaFleur had plenty of praise for one of Detroits biggest problems for opposing defenses: Jahmyr Gibbs. The Packers coach pointed to Gibbs change of direction and all-around versatility, a nod to the kind of stress he can put on a defense whether the Lions use him as a runner or as a receiver out of the backfield.
That versatility is exactly why Green Bay has spent the week thinking about how to slow him down while also getting its own ground game on track. Gibbs has already emerged as a central piece of Detroits offense, and if the Packers are going to control the matchup, theyll need a cleaner plan against a weapon who can affect the game in more than one way. [Read more 🡒]