Stu Jackson

Throughout the offseason, theRams.com will be looking ahead to select games and opponents on the team's 2026 schedule.

This year's series continues with an advanced look at the Green Bay Packers, who the Rams will host on Thanksgiving Eve at SoFi Stadium in Week 12 (5:15 p.m. PT, ESPN).

The Packers have been a familiar opponent in the Sean McVay era, especially in recent years. From 2021-2024, Los Angeles and Green Bay faced each other five times across the regular season and playoffs. This year, the Packers will once again be led by play-calling head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love, while their defense and special teams head new directions after those coordinators departed this offseason.

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2025 recap

The arrival of All-Pro defensive lineman Micah Parsons in a trade with the Cowboys heightened expectations for the Packers going into the 2025 season, especially as an addition to a defense that led the league in takeaways in 2024. On the other side of the ball, Green Bay had a solid offensive line, a run game led by Josh Jacobs, and multiple explosive receivers at quarterback Jordan Love's disposal.

Arriving at a 9-3-1 record entering Week 15, all of those pieces were seemingly coming together as they battled the Bears for the NFC North title in a competitive late-season race. But Parsons' torn ACL in that Week 15 game against the Denver Broncos began a spiral that saw Green Bay lose their final four regular season games (including that Denver game). The Packers still managed to qualify for the playoffs as No. 7 seed, but lost to the Bears 31-27 in the wild card round of the playoffs.

Key changes

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley departed to become the next head coach of the Dolphins, while special teams coordinator Rich Bissachia stepped down and went to the collegiate level to Clemson's coaching staff in the same role.

Hafley was replaced by former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon. Bissachia was replaced by Cam Achord, most recently an assistant special teams coach for the Giants the last two seasons.

Head coach

LaFleur is entering his eighth season as head coach of the Packers, compiling a 76-40-1 regular season record and 3-6 playoff record through his first seven seasons.

What to watch for

New Packers defense led by Gannon

Gannon told Green Bay reporters this month that the Packers' defense will be a "new system" not one that ran in Philadelphia, or in Arizona. What will that look like when Parsons returns from injury, and with other players like two-time All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney at his disposal, especially by the time these two teams meet on Nov. 25?