Much has been made this week about how the Packers opened the week against the undefeated powerhouse that is the Los Angeles Rams as 8.5-point underdogs. The line has since moved to 9.5. This is, as you have almost certainly heard by now, the largest underdog the Packers have been with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

I was interested in looking back at other touchdown-plus lines the Packers have faced, but was surprised to find that only two other times under Rodgers have the Packers been underdogs of seven or more points, those being on the road at Seattle in the 2014 season NFC Championship (eight point underdogs) and on the road at Arizona in the 2015 season divisional playoffs (7 points). Aside from those two games, the other most lopsided point spreads the Packers have faced under Rodgers were at the New York Jets in the 2010 regular season (six points) and at the Atlanta Falcons in the 2016 season NFC Championship (5.5).

The Packers only won one of these games, that being the game against the Jets, which was a 9-3 snoozer, but an important victory in the Packers' regular season that year. The other three playoff games were all defeats.

Of these four other games, only one matchup really resembles the situation the Packers are walking into in Los Angeles, that being the matchup against the historically potent offense of the Atlanta Falcons in January 2017.

Like those Falcons, this is a Rams offense loaded with playmakers at every level, so many that it almost becomes impossible to scheme against them. The Falcons had the league MVP on offense in Matt Ryan, and the Rams have a bona fide MVP candidate in Todd Gurley in the backfield. The Falcons had a young, on-the-rise hotshot coordinator calling plays in Kyle Shanahan, and the Rams have a young, on-the-rise hotshot head coach developing unique schemes and calling excellent games in Sean McVay.

You don't need me to remind you what happened in that game in Atlanta, but I will anyway. The Falcons blew out the Packers 44-21 in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score indicates.

The other three games on the list of large underdog appearances for Aaron Rodgers all featured the Packers playing against elite defenses that had proven themselves capable of completely shutting down some of the league's best passers. And in all three of those games, Rodgers and the Packers' offense found it difficult to get any momentum going. The two losses (in Seattle and Arizona) were, famously, both in overtime.

This is, of course, a different year and a different Packer team. But in the four biggest underdog games of Aaron Rodgers' career, he and the Packers have not put on particularly impressive performances.

The Rams are obviously a tough matchup for the Packers' defense, but the Packers' offense is going to have its hands full. This is a defense that has the best defender in the league in Aaron Donald, who is a nightmare for opposing lines and quarterbacks. They also have a deep, talented secondary that complements the Donald-led front seven quite well.

The Packers are nearly 10-point underdogs for a reason; they have had an underwhelming start of the season at best, and have inspired no confidence that their defense will be able to even slow down this Rams juggernaut, let alone stop it. It's hard to find places on the field in which the Packers will have a clear advantage.

That all being said, they play the games for a reason. While the Packers' relatively dismal history as big underdogs under Rodgers and McCarthy provides some historical context for the game, it has no bearing on how the team will perform this weekend. 

Even taking all those other underdog games into consideration, this feels like maybe the first time under Rodgers that the Packers are heading into a game that they really have no business winning. Sounds like the perfect scenario in which to catch the red-hot Rams by surprise.