With a first-round bye in the NFL Playoffs, the Green Bay Packers watched along with us during Wild Card Weekend to see who their next matchup would be. Following the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears both losing, the Packers will host the Los Angeles Rams. The Californian quarterback Jared Goff may be in for a rude awakening, with a playoff game at Lambeau Field being a true home field advantage for the Pack.
Rams vs Packers Home Field Advantage
Getting home field advantage for the Packers was vital, as they have traditionally been great at Lambeau Field. Jared Goff came into the NFL in 2016. Since then, Green Bay is 31-10-1 at home — not too shabby.
The home field advantage is strong in this matchup, as the Los Angeles team, led by their California-born-and-raised quarterback, travel to the “Frozen Tundra.” The forecast for the Rams vs Packers playoff game this weekend is calling for a wind chill temperature under 30 degrees at kickoff, with it getting colder as the game progresses.
Finally, fans will be getting to enjoy and contribute to the Packers home field advantage. It was announced that Lambeau Field would allow 6,000 fans in the stadium. Expect them to be loud and rowdy, with booze-fueled hate for the Rams.
Jared Goff in the Cold
Now, how does Goff perform in freezing temperatures? Simply, he’s been ice cold.
Since entering the league, Goff has played two games in weather under 30 degrees. In those two games, he has a combined 34.5 passer rating, 47.2% completion rate, zero touchdowns, five interceptions and an average of 190.5 passing yards. In comparison, Aaron Rodgers has played in six of these games since 2016, throwing 10 touchdowns to one interception and finishing with a 108.7 passer rating and 65.8% completion rate.
One would expect Goff’s broken thumb will not help him play much better in this matchup. There were throws in the Wild Card game that were clearly affected by his injury.
Jared Goff NFL Playoffs Stats
Goff has been terrible in cold weather. He also has struggled in the NFL Playoffs during his career overall.
| Date | Opp | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-01-06 | ATL | 53.33 | 259 | 1 | 0 | 77.9 |
| 2019-01-12 | DAL | 53.57 | 186 | 0 | 0 | 74.4 |
| 2019-01-20 | NOR | 62.50 | 297 | 1 | 1 | 83.0 |
| 2019-02-03 | NWE | 50.00 | 229 | 0 | 1 | 57.9 |
| 2021-01-09 | SEA | 47.37 | 155 | 1 | 0 | 93.1 |
| Total | 54.12 | 1126 | 3 | 2 | 75.8 |
Across five games in the NFL Playoffs, Goff has just one game where he completed over 60% of his passes. He has never thrown for 300 yards or multiple touchdowns in a game. Goff also has three touchdowns to two interceptions total.
Last week, against a Seattle Seahawks secondary that has looked absolutely lost at times this season, Goff completed just nine passes (47.4%) for 155 yards and a touchdown. While the Rams do feature the run whenever game script allows for it, this is not the same Packers team as last season. Teams must be capable of passing the ball to beat them.
Can Goff do that? If history tells us anything, it could be a long flight back to California.
