A clash between the soon-to-be-deposed Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and the 5-8 Green Bay Packers is not what the TV executives wanted for Monday Night Football.
The 4-9 Rams have lost all of their star appeal since last February's Lombardi Trophy tilt with Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr gone before the season began, while Aaron Donald, Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp will all miss the trip to Lambeau Field through injury.
This will be the Packers' first home game in more than a month and, although Aaron Rodgers has proven capable of anything in the past, it may be beyond his powers to punch a ticket to the postseason.
What: Los Angeles Rams @ Green Bay Packers
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
When: 20:15 ET/ 17:15 PT Monday, December 19th
How to watch: ESPN
Odds: LA Rams +265, GB Packers -330
Green Bay are the NFC's 10th seed going into this game and need to win out and hope others, like the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks, falter in order to reach the playoffs.
However, they will play three of their last four games at Lambeau and are coming off a late-season bye week that has given some tired bodies a chance to rest.
That has not been enough for Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari, who will miss a second straight game as he recovers from an appendectomy, but wide receiver Romeo Doubs is expected to return after missing four games with an ankle injury.
Doubs and fellow rookie wideout Christian Watson have played together for just 52 snaps this season, so it will be interesting to see what Rodgers can do with both of them in his offensive weaponry.
Watson has become a key player, scoring seven receiving touchdowns and one rushing TD in just the last four games to make a late bid to earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honours.
His matchup with three-time All-Pro Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey will be good to watch as Watson has shown he can make big plays even when he doesn't get open.
The former North Dakota State star clinched the Packers' victory at Chicago with a 46-yard touchdown run on an end-around.
As Donald will miss a third straight game with a high ankle sprain and fellow Rams DT Marquise Copeland has a similar injury, Rodgers could have a bit more time in the pocket than usual.
A player of his calibre should make good use of it against a Rams defence that currently ranks 22nd in the league when defending the pass and 27th in that regard over the past three weeks.
NFL: Coach of the Year Contenders
Baker Mayfield gave the Rams something to cheer last time out after he stepped off a plane from Charlotte to lead Los Angeles to an upset win over the Las Vegas Raiders on a Thursday night, capped by a wild 98-yard TD drive.
But that was the champions' first win for seven games. During that barren run, Sean McVay, hailed as one of the finest offensive minds in the league last winter, has failed to come up with a solution to their malaise.
Maybe the mini-bye has given him some extra time to scheme something fresh for this prime-time clash and it will certainly have afforded Mayfield more time to digest the Rams' playbook.
But everything is pointing to a home win here. Green Bay has won six of the last seven regular-season games against the Rams and 13 of the last 18.
The Packers have won each of the last four home games against the NFC West team, outscoring them 116-59, with Rodgers particularly enjoying himself.
In the seven career games he has played against the Rams, the 39-year-old QB has only thrown three interceptions while tossing 15 touchdown scores.
Under his stewardship, the Packers' offense has never scored less than 24 points on any of those occasions.
The Packers may have been disappointing for most of this season, but their play has been solid enough in recent games, such as the win over the Cowboys and a one-score loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, to suggest they can cover the -7.0 point Spread at -110 against a ramshackle Los Angeles team.
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