Capsule summary of Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Rams.
Teams -- Green Bay (13-4), St. Louis Rams (14-2)
Site -- Dome at America's Center, St. Louis
Kickoff -- 4 p.m. EST
Last Playoff Meeting -- Bart Starr passed for 222 yards and a touchdown and Travis Williams rushed for 88 yards and two scores to lead the Packers to a 28-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 23, 1967 in an NFL divisional playoff.
Last Regular Season Meeting -- Brett Favre threw for 306 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as the Packers posted a 17-7 win over the Rams at Lambeau Field on Nov. 9, 1997. Antonio Freeman caught seven passes for 160 yards and a touchdown for the Packers.
Coaches Playoff Records -- Mike Sherman, Green Bay, 1-0; Mike Martz, St. Louis, 0-1
Green Bay offense vs St. Louis defense -- St. Louis' cover 2 zone scheme forces quarterbacks to be patient. Brett Favre will throw short passes off rollouts to backs Ahman Green, Dorsey Levens and William Henderson and tight end Bubba Franks. But the Rams have fast linebackers with London Fletcher and Tommy Polley. Favre's effectiveness on play action will depend on the running of Green. The Rams ranked third in the league in run defense, yielding no more than 88 yards to any opposing back. Packers coach Mike Sherman will likely run most of the plays to the right side behind tackle Mark Tauscher and guard Marco Rivera. Earl Dotson plays right tackle in the second and fourth quarters with Tauscher sliding inside. Defensive coordinator Lovie Smith will likely stunt to the left side of the line to compensate for the lack of size with end Chidi Ahanotu and tackle Brian Young. Rams will rely on cornerback Aeneas Williams to shut down Antonio Freeman, who no longer has deep speed. Corey Bradford is Favre's best home run threat and will try to go deep on Dexter McCleon.
St. Louis offense vs. Green Bay defense -- Packers defensive coordinator Ed Donatell will pull all of the blitz packages out of the vault in order to pressure quarterback Kurt Warner. That will be the only way to create turnovers because Green Bay's defensive backs will need all the help they can get against St. Louis' speed receivers. Mike McKenzie is Green Bay's best cover corner and will try to get physical with receiver Isaac Bruce. The Packers will need to double receiver Torry Holt and the safeties will stay in a soft zone to try to take away the deep pass over the middle. But the Packers can be victimized on a safety blitz by Darren Sharper if Warner reads it quickly. Bruce, Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim can roam on slants over the middle in a soft zone, but the Packers may play to limit yards after the catch. Receiver Ricky Proehl is a master at exploiting seams in the zone. Gilbert Brown and Santana Dotson at tackles and Bernardo Harris at middle linebacker will key on Marshall Faulk on running plays. Outside linebacker Nate Wayne will concentrate on Faulk on pass plays. But Wayne can be too aggressive and often gets caught out of position on play fakes. Left tackle Orlando Pace should shut down pass-rushing end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. But the Packers have the edge with left end Vonnie Holliday against right tackle Ryan Tucker.
