LOS ANGELES -- For stretches Sunday, the Green Bay Packers resembled a championship contender again, taking the previously 7-0 Los Angeles Rams to the wire in a three-hour, 19-minute advertisement for the NFL as compelling theater.
Legions of Green Bay fans turned the Los Angeles Coliseum into Lambeau West, but when the Packers awoke Monday, they resided south of seven teams in the NFC. Their 3-3-1 record brings them face-to-face with a hard question as the trade deadline looms Tuesday.
"Are they ever going to get a dynamic running back, ever?" an exec from another team said Sunday night after watching the Rams tackle Aaron Jones in the end zone for a safety that wound up being the difference in a 29-27 Packers defeat. "It is so obvious that you forget. And then their other back, [Ty] Montgomery, doesn't play as much anymore, but then he fools around on the kick return at the end of the game, and [Aaron] Rodgers never gets a chance."
Do not fret, Packers fans. We have a solution for you at the trade deadline, one that an AFC coach promised would give the Packers a big jolt for the stretch run. It's part of my annual list of NFL trades that should happen at the deadline. These are deals suggested by league execs or at least vetted by them -- deals to help a long list of teams with a chance to win it all, including the Packers, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and more.
