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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Rams
The Rams are a franchise that literally has gotten around in the National Football League. They've moved four times in their history, if you count the shift from Los Angeles to Anaheim as one, and identified themselves in three different cities. Perhaps that "vagabond" trait has kept them from being ranked as high as one of the "storied" clubs in NFL history.
But they've certainly had their great players and coaches, seasons and moments and they have managed to win at least one NFL world championship in each of the three cities where they've been.
For thirty years the Packers and Rams played each other twice each season when both were members of the old Western Conference of the NFL. It was a "tradition" for most of those three decades for the Packers to finish their season each year with a West Coast swing, no doubt to avoid the onset of winter weather back in Green Bay and Milwaukee.
Despite seeing each other twice per season the rivalry between the two was never especially intense. Probably because, like two ends of a teetertotter, when one club was up the other was down so their games weren't for a title prize.
The Packers and Rams didn't meet head to head for a championship until 1967. In the next to last game of that year the Packers visited LA with little more than pride to play for. They had already clinched the Central Division title and, despite having only the third best record in the league that season, they had home field advantage for the playoffs because in those days that was set on an annually rotating schedule between the division and conferences instead of seeded by regular season record.
The Rams, on the other hand, were locked in a down to the wire race with the Baltimore Colts, led by quarterback great John Unitas, in the Coastal Division. The Rams lost only one game that season but the Colts were still undefeated (each had 2 ties) and the Rams had to win against the Packers to make their final game of the season against the Colts for the division title.
It appeared the Packers were about to eliminate the Rams from their first postseason action in 13 years as they held a 24-20 lead with less than a minute to play. But the Rams got a blocked punt that they converted into the game winning score in the last seconds. The Rams beat the Colts big the next week and earned a rematch with the Packers for the Western Conference title in Milwaukee.
http://www.packershistory.net/1967PACKERS/GAME13.html
In his book INSTANT REPLAY Packers' all-pro guard Jerry Kramer confided that he and many of his teammates would have preferred playing the Colts in that game. They were confident of beating Baltimore but not so sure about the Rams. And in the early going it looked like their concern might be justified.
The Rams drove for an early touchdown for a 7-0 lead and were closing in on a second when the Packers blocked a field goal and switched the momentum of the game, winning 28-7. From that win the Packers went on to beat Dallas in the famous "Ice Bowl" NFL Championship Game and then Super Bowl II over Oakland to complete their historic "threepeat" run of world championships.
http://www.packershistory.net/1967PACKERS/WESTERNPLAYOFF.html
The Packers and Rams would next meet in a playoff 34 years later, the Divisional round of the 2001 playoffs in St.Louis. The Rams at that time had their "Greatest Show on Turf" team, just two years from a Super Bowl win and heavily favored as NFC "top seed" in '01 for another.
The Packers actually outgained the Rams 383 yds to 292 and did a respectable job of holding one of the NFL's best all-time offenses to 24 points. But 8 turnovers, 6 interceptions off Brett Favre, 3 of which were returned by the Rams for defensive scores made the game a 45-17 scoreboard rout.
If you're looking for a good trivia question here's one: which was the last team to beat the Packers at Lambeau before they went on their historic 29 home game winning streak of 1995-98? Answer: the Rams. Just relocated to St.Louis the Rams came up to Green Bay for the regular season opener in 1995 and upset the Pack 17-14. Despite being held to 187 total yards for the game. Three interceptions and 9 penalties hurt the Packers cause that day.
The following season the Packers played the Rams in St.Louis for the first time. They were on the march to their Super Bowl XXXI Championship but the season was starting to look a little shaky. The Packers had just lost consecutive road games to Kansas City and Dallas and injuries were depleting the receiving corps. And the Rams had them down 9-0 in the second quarter.
CB Doug Evans intercepted and returned a pass for a td in the third period which swung the momentum of the game and the season back to Green Bay. The Packers won 24-9 and didnt lose again the rest of the year until they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans.
Another bit of trivia: against what team did the Packers make their biggest comeback for a win? Prior to the 2013 game at Dallas it was the 1982 season opener against the Rams at Milwaukee County Stadium. Trailing 23-0 at halftime the Pack roared back in the second half for a 35-23 win.
http://www.packershistory.net/1982PACKERS/GAME1.html
During the 1970's the Rams were a league powerhouse and perenniel playoff team. The Packers were perenniel losers. But they did rise up and upset the powerful Rams in a 1974 game that turned out to have unintended consequences for the Packers.The Packers defense shut down the Rams 17-6 and put starting LA qb John Hadl on the bench. Soon afterward, desperate for a quarterback to save his job head coach/general manager Dan Devine traded two first round picks, two seconds and a third over two years - 5 prime draft picks in all- to the Rams for Hadl in the worst trade in Packers' history.
This week's game will be the 93rd meeting between the Packers and Rams and with a win Green Bay will tie the all-time record between the two clubs. The Packers have won the last four meetings and 5 of the last 6.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/game_query.cgi?tm1=gnb&tm2=ram&yr=all
The Rams are a franchise that literally has gotten around in the National Football League. They've moved four times in their history, if you count the shift from Los Angeles to Anaheim as one, and identified themselves in three different cities. Perhaps that "vagabond" trait has kept them from being ranked as high as one of the "storied" clubs in NFL history.
But they've certainly had their great players and coaches, seasons and moments and they have managed to win at least one NFL world championship in each of the three cities where they've been.
For thirty years the Packers and Rams played each other twice each season when both were members of the old Western Conference of the NFL. It was a "tradition" for most of those three decades for the Packers to finish their season each year with a West Coast swing, no doubt to avoid the onset of winter weather back in Green Bay and Milwaukee.
Despite seeing each other twice per season the rivalry between the two was never especially intense. Probably because, like two ends of a teetertotter, when one club was up the other was down so their games weren't for a title prize.
The Packers and Rams didn't meet head to head for a championship until 1967. In the next to last game of that year the Packers visited LA with little more than pride to play for. They had already clinched the Central Division title and, despite having only the third best record in the league that season, they had home field advantage for the playoffs because in those days that was set on an annually rotating schedule between the division and conferences instead of seeded by regular season record.
The Rams, on the other hand, were locked in a down to the wire race with the Baltimore Colts, led by quarterback great John Unitas, in the Coastal Division. The Rams lost only one game that season but the Colts were still undefeated (each had 2 ties) and the Rams had to win against the Packers to make their final game of the season against the Colts for the division title.
It appeared the Packers were about to eliminate the Rams from their first postseason action in 13 years as they held a 24-20 lead with less than a minute to play. But the Rams got a blocked punt that they converted into the game winning score in the last seconds. The Rams beat the Colts big the next week and earned a rematch with the Packers for the Western Conference title in Milwaukee.
http://www.packershistory.net/1967PACKERS/GAME13.html
In his book INSTANT REPLAY Packers' all-pro guard Jerry Kramer confided that he and many of his teammates would have preferred playing the Colts in that game. They were confident of beating Baltimore but not so sure about the Rams. And in the early going it looked like their concern might be justified.
The Rams drove for an early touchdown for a 7-0 lead and were closing in on a second when the Packers blocked a field goal and switched the momentum of the game, winning 28-7. From that win the Packers went on to beat Dallas in the famous "Ice Bowl" NFL Championship Game and then Super Bowl II over Oakland to complete their historic "threepeat" run of world championships.
http://www.packershistory.net/1967PACKERS/WESTERNPLAYOFF.html
The Packers and Rams would next meet in a playoff 34 years later, the Divisional round of the 2001 playoffs in St.Louis. The Rams at that time had their "Greatest Show on Turf" team, just two years from a Super Bowl win and heavily favored as NFC "top seed" in '01 for another.
The Packers actually outgained the Rams 383 yds to 292 and did a respectable job of holding one of the NFL's best all-time offenses to 24 points. But 8 turnovers, 6 interceptions off Brett Favre, 3 of which were returned by the Rams for defensive scores made the game a 45-17 scoreboard rout.
If you're looking for a good trivia question here's one: which was the last team to beat the Packers at Lambeau before they went on their historic 29 home game winning streak of 1995-98? Answer: the Rams. Just relocated to St.Louis the Rams came up to Green Bay for the regular season opener in 1995 and upset the Pack 17-14. Despite being held to 187 total yards for the game. Three interceptions and 9 penalties hurt the Packers cause that day.
The following season the Packers played the Rams in St.Louis for the first time. They were on the march to their Super Bowl XXXI Championship but the season was starting to look a little shaky. The Packers had just lost consecutive road games to Kansas City and Dallas and injuries were depleting the receiving corps. And the Rams had them down 9-0 in the second quarter.
CB Doug Evans intercepted and returned a pass for a td in the third period which swung the momentum of the game and the season back to Green Bay. The Packers won 24-9 and didnt lose again the rest of the year until they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans.
Another bit of trivia: against what team did the Packers make their biggest comeback for a win? Prior to the 2013 game at Dallas it was the 1982 season opener against the Rams at Milwaukee County Stadium. Trailing 23-0 at halftime the Pack roared back in the second half for a 35-23 win.
http://www.packershistory.net/1982PACKERS/GAME1.html
During the 1970's the Rams were a league powerhouse and perenniel playoff team. The Packers were perenniel losers. But they did rise up and upset the powerful Rams in a 1974 game that turned out to have unintended consequences for the Packers.The Packers defense shut down the Rams 17-6 and put starting LA qb John Hadl on the bench. Soon afterward, desperate for a quarterback to save his job head coach/general manager Dan Devine traded two first round picks, two seconds and a third over two years - 5 prime draft picks in all- to the Rams for Hadl in the worst trade in Packers' history.
This week's game will be the 93rd meeting between the Packers and Rams and with a win Green Bay will tie the all-time record between the two clubs. The Packers have won the last four meetings and 5 of the last 6.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/game_query.cgi?tm1=gnb&tm2=ram&yr=all
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