The Falcons Blog: Birds Soar on the Road

Falcons 27, Packers 24

Road win is another big step

In recent times fans have grown less and less patient with sports franchises. Quick fixes and fast turnarounds have led people to believe that things can change dramatically overnight. Fans expect teams to get good quickly and start winning now. But the truth is that it doesn’t work that way most of the time. Teams take steps to get from the bottom to the top; there’s no way to bypass the different stages in the process from winner to loser. We don’t know if the Falcons are on the path to becoming winners. Truthfully, we probably won’t know whether they are really on the right path for some time still. But if they do someday become a consistently competitive team; if they do one day become winners, we will most likely look back at Sunday’s game as one of the major steps in the Falcons journey up from rock bottom.

After the Falcons were beaten convincingly in their first two road games this season, I was not expecting things to be much different in their game against the Packers in Green Bay on Sunday. But in this third road test everything was different. The Falcons got off to a great start, weathered some rough times, and hung on to win, 27-24, for their first road victory of the season. No matter what happens from here on, you have to be impressed so far.

The Falcons weren’t supposed to win this game. They were 3.5 point underdogs against a team that played for the NFC Championship the year before. The Packers were 2-2 just like the Falcons, but Atlanta had lost both of their previous road games by 15 points, and hadn’t so much as scored a touchdown on the road this season. The Packers came into the game with wins in 10 of their last 12 at home in the regular season, while the Falcons had lost 10 of their last 11 on the road. But when this one was over, the Falcons were the team that was 3-2. And this wasn’t a fluke. The Falcons had to fight for this win and they had chances to give it away but they didn’t. They got it done and took another step in the growing process. The franchise took another step away from its painful recent past and another step towards respectability.

Game Recap



Just as they had in their previous 2 games on the road, the Falcons won the coin toss, elected to receive, and came out aggressive on their first offensive series deep in their own territory. For the first time the strategy paid off, as Matty Ryan dropped back on the first play from scrimmage and found Roddy White deep down the right side line. White made the catch and crossed midfield, taking the Falcons from their own 19 to the Green Bay 44 where he was pushed out after a 37 yard gain on the team’s opening play. The start was reminiscent of the opening game of the season when Ryan hooked up with Michael Jenkins for a long TD pass on the first play of the game. The Falcons still had 44 yards to go if they wanted to begin this game with their first TD on the road all season. The Falcons tried to begin establishing the run, giving it to Turner on runs to the left on the next two plays, but a pair of 2 yard gains left 3rd and 6 from the 40. The Falcons had had almost no success on 3rd downs in their two previous road contests, but here Ryan took the ball out of the shotgun and found White open again to the right for a first down and more. Roddy went out of bounds at the 21 after a 19 yard gain on 3rd down that gave the Falcons their second first down of the game. Ryan hit White again on the next play, this time to the left, and Roddy took it to the 13 before going out of bounds for an 8 yard gain on 1st down. Turner went up the middle for 3 yards on second down to give the Falcons a first and goal at the 10. So far the Falcons were rolling but they had struggled mightily with their red zone offense in their two previous road games, scoring 0 TD’s through 8 quarters. The Falcons had to get into the end zone on one of their next 4 plays; they couldn’t get a first down. On first and goal the Falcons went back to Turner and he went off the left side for 4 yards to the 6. On second down the Falcons gave it to Jerious Norwood for the first time and he ran to the right and pushed it for 4 yards down to the 1. An encroachment penalty nullified the next snap and would have been big if the Falcons could get a first down but as it was it only put the ball a step closer. On 3rd and goal from the 1, the Falcons gave it to Turner up the gut and he was hit immediately and stopped for no gain. It looked like the Falcons would have to settle again. But the offense stayed on the field. They would go for the TD on 4th down. On one hand you understood coach Mike Smith’s reasoning. If the Falcons were going to win this game they would have to take advantage of the chances they had. On the other hand, to get nothing out of an opening drive like this could be a big momentum shift. But at least if the Falcons didn’t make it the Packers would likely be taking over at their own 1, and with an offense supposedly built on a strong rushing attack, the Falcons needed to be able to get 1 yard when they had to have it. On 4th and 1, the Packers might also have been expecting a run, but Ryan faked the handoff, bootlegged right and found TE Justin Peelle in the end zone for a touchdown. With the 4th down converted to a TD, the Falcons completed a 10 play, 81 yard drive for a TD on their opening possession, taking just over 5 minutes off the clock. It was the Falcons first TD on the road this season and with Elam’s PAT the Falcons took a 7-0 lead at Lambeau in front of a crowd that was sold out as always but considerably less noisy now than it had been 15 minutes ago.

The Falcons kicked off, leading for the first time on the road this season. Green Bay began its first drive at the 21. It had been announced only a few hours earlier that Aaron Rodgers would indeed start for the Packers despite a badly sprained right shoulder. The Falcons defense had not been able to apply a lot of pressure on the QB in the two previous road games and they especially needed to do it early against the Packers to try and make Rodgers uncomfortable. It would also be important for the defense to keep Green Bay from answering Atlanta’s TD on their opening possession with a TD of its own. On Green Bay’s first offensive play, Rodgers dropped back and big Grady Jackson burst through the line and dropped the QB at the 17 for a 4 yard loss. Jackson’s first sack of the year was especially sweet as it came against the team that had cut him a few years back. It was even bigger for the Falcons, as they had been unable to register a sack against the Panthers the week before. And it was big to be able to get to Rodgers right away, as he had been sacked 8 times in the two previous games, and had sustained the shoulder injury while being brutalized by TB the week before. On 2nd down, Ryan Grant carried the ball for the first time and picked up 3 yards to bring up 3rd and long. Rodgers dropped a pass off to Brandon Jackson on 3rd down but big John Abraham got him wrapped up at the 27 short of the first down. The Packers were called for holding but the penalty was declined. The Packers were called for holding a few times during the game but not nearly as often as they could have been. The GB line is beat up and struggling and Packer linemen were grabbing and pulling all day long and were allowed to get away with it most of the time.

The Packers punted and Adam Jennings took the punt and returned it for 3 yards to the Atlanta 39 where the Falcons began their second possession. On first down, the Falcons gave the ball to Michael Turner up the gut. Turner had been held in check on the first drive, totaling just 11 yards on 5 carries, but on the first play of the 2nd Atlanta drive he burst through the left side across midfield and down to the GB 39. At 22 yards, the gain was already more than twice as long as Turner’s best run the week before. Turner got stopped for just a 1 yard gain on the next play but then went for 6 yards on the next play to bring up a 3rd and manageable for the Falcons at the 32. The Falcons called a timeout to discuss things and then on 3rd down, Ryan took the snap in the gun, dropped a pass off to Norwood over the middle, and Norwood took it to the 28 for 4 yards and a first down. The Falcons were now 2 for 3 on 3rd down and 1 for 1 on 4th down after they had gone 2 for 13 on 3rd down conversions and 0 for 2 on 4th down the week before. On the next 2 plays, White caught a pass for a short gain and Turner was stopped after a minimal gain to bring up a 3rd and 6 from the Green Bay 24. On 3rd down Ryan’s pass for Norwood was incomplete and the Falcons brought out the kick team to try a 42 yarder. Jason Elam kicked it up and good to stay perfect on the year and the Falcons extended their lead to 10-0 with 4:15 to go in the 1st quarter.

The Packers second drive began at the 26. They went with the run on the first two plays but Grant found little room against the Falcons D-line and GB was left with a 3rd and 6 from the 30. On 3rd down Rodgers threw a pass for Greg Jennings and the Falcons broke it up to bring up 4th down. The Falcons were set to get the ball back again after a second straight three and out forced by the defense. GB punter Derrick Frost got away a line drive punt and Adam Jennings saw a chance for a return but he came up to receive the kick on the run and muffed it at the 26. Luckily, a block was delivered right in front of Jennings just as it went off his hands and he was able to dive on it and recover it at the 29. Jennings isn’t going to break a lot of long returns but he is fairly adept at getting the team an extra 7, 10, or 15 yards here and there. The problem is that he fumbles a lot for a guy who you might call a “possession return man.” Fumbling a punt can be devastating to a team, particularly in a situation like this when you’re leading by 10 on the road against a struggling offense. If the Packers had recovered a fumble inside the Atlanta 30 it might have been the break they needed and it could have completely changed the game.

But with Jennings having recovered his own muff, the Falcons took over at the 29. On first down the Falcons ran the end around play with Harry Douglas that they had used a couple of times earlier in the season. This time Douglas went around the left end for a nice gain, taking it 18 yards for another first down at the 47. Turner went off left tackle and into GB territory on 1st down for 8 yards and then went up the gut for 6 more on the next play to give the Falcons a first down at the 39. Turner was hit in the backfield and dropped for a 3 yard loss on the final play of the quarter but the Falcons took a 10-0 lead into the 2nd quarter at Lambeau Field. Norwood carried the ball on the first play of the 2nd quarter and got 3 yards back to the original line of scrimmage. On 3rd and 10, the Falcons tried to set up a screen to Norwood and it fooled no one, resulting in a 2 yard loss. The Falcons were out of FG range at the 41 and would have to punt. Koenen kept the drive from being a total waste by forcing GB to start from its own 13 yard line.

On GB’s 3rd possession, Rodgers threw incomplete and than threw a 7 yard completion to Donald Lee to bring up a 3rd and 3 from the 20. On third down, GB gave the ball to Jackson and he went 9 yards to the right to give the Packers a first down for the first time at the 29. The crowd gave the Packers an ovation for converting after going 3 and out on the first two drives. The Packers had success with the run on 3rd down and they went back to it on the next two plays, getting 6 yards on an end around to the left by Donald Driver and then 12 yards from Ryan Grant around the right end. Jennings caught a ball for 6 yards on 1st down across midfield and then Grant ran for 3 yards to bring up a 3rd and 1 from the 44. With the Falcons looking to stuff the run on 3rd and short, Rodgers dropped back and threw deep down the middle of the field for Driver. The Falcons had decent coverage on the receiver but the ball was thrown perfectly and Driver went up and got it and hung on as he landed hard on the ground in the end zone. Driver was shaken up on the play but he had hung on for a 44 yard TD that trimmed the Falcons lead to 10-7.




Though the Falcons still had the lead, it was too bad that they had allowed such a long scoring play. The Packers had to have a perfect pass and a great catch to make the play work or else it would have been 4th down but they made it happen and now the Falcons would have to respond. The crowd was back in the game and the momentum continued to shift to Green Bay on the ensuing kickoff, as Norwood took the kick deep in the end zone and decided to bring it out. He was cut down at the 10, giving the Falcons awful field position to start their 4th drive of the game. It looked like the Falcons were going to give it right back to GB after a 1 yard run by Turner and an incomplete pass left 3rd and 9 from the 11. On 3rd and long, Ryan saw White being covered by Pat Lee and threw to him down the right side. The pass fell incomplete but Lee was flagged for pass interference, giving the Falcons a first down at the 31. This was a pretty huge play, as punting the ball right back to the Packers and giving them good field position might well have led to them tying the game or taking the lead. Instead the Falcons drive continued and they got out of their own end zone. After a timeout by GB, an incomplete pass and a run for no gain by Turner left the Falcons with 3rd and 10 from the 31. On 3rd down Ryan again found White open, this time to the left, and White caught the pass and advanced the ball across midfield before being pushed out the GB 43 after a gain of 26 yards. Now going with a no-huddle offense, the Falcons continued down the field, with Ryan finding TE Justin Peelle on 2nd and 9 for a 14 yard gain down to the 28. Turner went to the right for 6 yards on first down and then on 2nd and 4, Ryan went deep for White in the right corner of the end zone and White caught it for a 22 yard TD. The Falcons had answered Green Bay’s touchdown by going 90 yards in 9 plays for a TD to put the lead back up to 10 with just over 6 minutes left in the half.




The Falcons had quieted the crowd again as they lined up to kickoff leading 17-7 but they would quickly allow the Packers to get the crowd right back into it. Koenen had given dangerous return man Will Blackmon a chance on his first two kickoffs but the Falcons coverage team had held him both times. Koenen gave Blackmon another chance here as his kick came down at the 5 and this time the coverage team was unable to contain him. Blackmon found a seam and kept advancing the ball until Koenen pushed him out at midfield after a 45 yard return. Grant got the ball on the first play of the drive and went 5 yards to the Atlanta 45. On 3rd and 1, Grant went around the right and got just enough for a first down at the 40 as the clock ticked down towards 4 minutes to go in the half. On the next play, Rodgers found Driver open over the middle for a 14 yard connection to the Atlanta 26. The Pack was driving towards the end zone but on first down Abraham came up with a huge play, bringing down Grant in the backfield for a 4 yard loss back at the 30. The Packers now had a 2nd and 14 and Driver caught a pass over the middle but the Falcons kept him in front and stopped him at the 20. The two minute warning hit with the Packers facing a 3rd and 4 from the 20. On 3rd down Rodgers took the snap in the shotgun and dropped back but Abraham came around and got him for a sack and a loss of 5. Abraham’s second big play of the series forced the Packers to settle for a FG try, meaning that baring a series of unforeseen events, the Falcons would take the lead into halftime. It turned out even better than that. Mason Crosby came into the game having made 6 of his 7 FG attempts on the season but none had been for longer than 39 yards. This one would be from 43 and Crosby kicked it up and good with plenty of leg to spare to make it a 17-10 game. But there was a flag on the play and it turned out to be holding against the Packers. The points came off the board and the ball was moved back to the 35. It would now be a 53 yarder. Crosby again had enough leg but this time the kick sailed wide right and the Packers came away with no points. This was enormous. With Green Bay getting the ball first after the half, a FG here would have allowed them to tie the game up with a TD on their opening drive of the 3rd quarter. Now unless the Falcons did something stupid they would take a 2 score lead to the second half.

The Falcons had a 10 point lead with just a minute and ten seconds to go until halftime, but Mike Smith has played to win all season, and he definitely played to win this game. The Falcons had 2 timeouts left as they took over at their own 43 and Smith had his team trying for more points. On first down Ryan hit White with a 7 yard pass to midfield. The Falcons worked out of the no-huddle and on 2nd and 3, Ryan hit Jenkins with a 5 yard pass to the GB 45 for a first down. The Falcons called their second timeout with 44 seconds to play in the half. On first down, Norwood caught a short pass for 3 yards but Harvey Dahl was flagged for a costly illegal hands to the face penalty that knocked the Falcons back across midfield to their own 45. They now had a 1st and 20 with just 36 seconds left. You thought they might just hand it off but Smith showed faith in Ryan again as the offense continued to try and score. Ryan hit White for a 10 yard completion to get back to the Packers 45 but White was tackled in bounds and by the time Ryan spiked the ball there were only 19 seconds left on the clock. On 3rd and 10, Ryan’s pass went incomplete and the Falcons were forced to punt and settle for the 17-7 lead they had. Koenen’s punt was downed at the 2, forcing GB to be very careful on the final play of the half. Rodgers kept the ball and went for a yard up the middle to run out the final few seconds. The two teams headed for the locker rooms at halftime with the Falcons holding a surprising 17-7 lead.

Green Bay would get the ball first in the second half and for a young team like the Falcons trying to win on the road it would be important to keep the Packers from the end zone on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. With Koenen struggling to kick the ball deep and Blackmon presenting such a threat as a returner, the Falcons went with a squib kick on the opening kickoff of the second half. The decision paid off, as the Packers picked the ball up at the 17 and returned it 9 yards to the 26. That would have worked fine for the Falcons, as the Packers would have had reasonable but not great field position to start the 3rd quarter. But the Packers were flagged for a hold during the return and would have to start their first drive from their own 9 yard line. The Falcons stopped Grant for a 1 yard gain on 1st down but then Lee caught a pass from Rodgers and took it to the 20 for a 10 yard reception and a first down. Grant went around the left end for 9 yards and an incompletion by Rodgers brought up 3rd and 1 at the 29. Grant ran left again and picked up the first down before going out of bounds at the 34 after a 5 yard gain. Two plays later on 3rd and 8, Rodgers hooked up with Jennings over the middle for a 20 yard gain into Falcons territory. On 2nd and 10 from the Falcons’ 44, Atlanta stuffed Grant for a 1 yard loss and the Packers were called for holding. The Falcons took the penalty to send GB back to its own 45 for a 2nd and 20. After an incomplete pass, Rodgers threw a short pass to Jackson on 3rd and 20 but Abraham tackled him at the 48 after just 2 yards and the Packers had to punt. Frost got off a good punt and Jennings had to fair catch it at the 10 but the Falcons defense had held GB on the opening drive and the Falcons still led by 10.


The Falcons began their first drive of the second half by giving the ball to Turner and he went up the gut for 3 yards and then around the left end for 14 before being pushed out at the 27. Some frustration began to show on the part of the Packers, as safety Nick Collins was flagged for unnecessary roughness, giving the Falcons 15 more yards and taking the ball all the way out to the 42. On 2nd down, Norwood got the carry and went for 4 yards to bring up 3rd and 6 from the 46 as the clock ticked below the 8 minute mark in the 3rd quarter. On 3rd down, Ryan took the snap from the shotgun and threw over the middle to White. The play would have been good enough for a first down but White was bobbling the ball as he fell to the ground and it was ruled an incomplete pass. White lobbied to Coach Smith to throw the challenge flag and Smith obliged. It wasn’t a bad challenge considering how big of a difference it would make if the call was reversed. I can understand why White might have thought he had caught the ball. He had pressed it against his chest and it had stopped moving as he fell to the ground. The problem was that as he fell to the ground the end of the ball touched the ground and therefore it was going to be ruled incomplete. The Falcons lost the challenge and a timeout and would now have to punt from their own 46. A first down would have been huge but Koenen made everyone feel better about things by getting off a 53 yard kick that checked up in front of the goal line and was downed at the 2.



With the Falcons still leading 17-7, the Packers took over at their own 2 yard line with just over 7 minutes left in the 3rd. GB gave the ball to Grant on first and second down to try and get some room and he got the ball to the 6 to bring up 3rd and 6. On third down, Rodgers took the shotgun snap and hit Ruvell Martin with a pass to the right. He was hit immediately but not until he had 8 yards and a first down at the 14. On second down, Rodgers found Martin again, this time to the left for 14 yards and a first down at the 28. After a 4 yard run by Grant, Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson on a 14 yard completion for a first down at the 46. Grant then took the ball around the left side for a 14 yard gain down to the Atlanta 40. On 1st down, Rodgers threw incomplete and the Packers then burned a timeout with just over 2 minutes to go in the 3rd. On 2nd and 10, the Packers tried a short pass to Jackson and Brent Grimes stopped him for a loss of a yard. Rodgers was starting to wince now and then and was visibly feeling the pain in his shoulder but he kept playing. On 3rd and 11 from the 41, Rodgers threw underneath to James Jones to the left but he was stopped shy of the first down at the 32. It was now 4th and 2 and the Packers decided to try another long FG rather than go for it. Crosby had been good from 43 yards in the first half but it was nullified by a penalty and he missed the 48 yard try. He was now 6 of 8 on the year with no kick longer than 39 yards. You had to feel like he might miss again. But Crosby kicked well and true for a 50 yard field goal that cut the Falcons lead to 17-10 with just seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter.



The ensuing kickoff was a touchback and the Falcons threw incomplete and then got a 5 yard run from Turner to set up a 3rd and 5 from their own 25 as the 3rd quarter came to a close. The Falcons had a chance for a sweet win if they could hold on for the final 15 minutes. On the first play of the 4th quarter, with the crowd screaming at him, Ryan took the snap in the shotgun and decided to take off. He found room to run up the middle for a first down and more, taking it all the way to the 42 yard line for a 17 yard scamper. Two plays later the Falcons looked to Ryan to make a play again on 3rd and 7. He took the shotgun snap and found Michael Jenkins open down the right side for a first down and a big gain. The completion went for 31 to the GB 24. A foolish unnecessary roughness penalty against DB Will Blackmon moved the ball all the way down to the 12 where the Falcons had a first down with a 7 point lead and just under 12 and a half minutes to play. As well as things were going, I thought to myself at that moment, “Okay, all we’ve got to do is just take care of the ball,” because a FG here would mean a 2 score game. I felt like we were going to win this game. Seconds after that thought went through my mind, the Falcons gave the ball away and gave Green Bay the chance they needed. On first down from the 12, Ryan took the snap under center and dropped back to throw. He had time and had TE Ben Hartsock wide open in the end zone. Perhaps if Ryan had been under pressure and Hartsock had had somebody near him things would have been alright, but in this case Ryan’s throw was too soft and Tramon Williams was able to pick it off in the end zone for a touchback. I’ve been able to keep myself from being overly frustrated by the Falcons most of the time this season because of the low level of expectation, but this really pissed me off. At the moment I was annoyed at the Falcons for letting Ryan throw it when we could have just run it 3 times and then kicked the FG, but I guess when you’re a professional football team you just can’t play that way. And the Falcons wouldn’t have been in this position if they had been playing scared. I was also annoyed at Ryan for making what seemed like a poor decision when he should have been playing safe. But after a saw how wide open Hartsock was, I realized that Ryan just threw a bad pass. He didn’t throw it well but he’s also still learning the speed of defensive players. If you’ve got a guy wide open on the run you’ve got to hit him with a strong throw, you can’t just lob it up.




So the Falcons had gotten nothing and the Packers took over at the 20 with plenty of time remaining, down just a touchdown. There was no sense in thinking about what could have been. If the Falcons wanted to win, the defense needed to step up and hold Green Bay on this drive. You worried that the Packers would take advantage of the opportunity and turn the momentum and that’s exactly what they did. On the first play of the possession, Rodgers hit Troy Humphrey deep down the middle of the field for a 37 yard completion into Atlanta territory at the 43. Grant then went around the right side for 13 yards and another first down at the Falcons 30. Humphrey caught a pass for 5 more yards to the 25. Rodgers appeared to be feeling the pain in his shoulder more as the game went on but at the same time he was getting better. On 2nd and 5, Rodgers took the snap in the shotgun, dropped back and fired deep to Greg Jennings in the right corner of the end zone for a 25 yard TD pass. Crosby’s kick was up and good and in just 2 minutes and 8 seconds, the Packers had gone 80 yards in 4 plays and tied it up at 17 all with 10:08 to play in the game.



At this point I was really worried that all of the good things that had happened up to this point were going to go for naught. I’m sure I was one of many Falcons fans feeling that way. As well as the team had played on both sides of the ball in the game, I was pretty worried about starting over 0-0 for the final 10 minutes. The Packers defense would have momentum and the crowd on its side against the Falcons and their rookie QB. Defensively, you had to be worried because the Packers had just torched Atlanta. The Falcons needed to do something to stop the momentum. Even if they didn’t score they needed to keep the defense on the sidelines for a moment. The Falcons needed something and before the offense even came out on the field they got it. On the ensuing kickoff, with Lambeau Field rocking, Jerious Norwood dropped two steps into his end zone to receive the kick and decided to bring it out. He got to the 20 and then got to the 30 and stayed on his feet all the way across midfield before being pushed out at the Green Bay 48. Norwood’s 54 yard return was one of the biggest plays of the game. It helped quell the momentum and the crowd. It meant that the Falcons offense only needed to make a few plays in order to get in scoring position. Even if the Falcons did nothing at least they would be able to set up the defense by pinning the Packers deep in their own territory. The Falcons went right to Turner and sticking with the run began to pay off as he forced his way for 9 yards to the 39. On 2nd and 1, big Ovie Mughelli banged up the middle for 9 more yards and a 1st down at the 30. 2 plays later the Falcons had a 3rd and 10 from the 30. They needed a few more yards to put Elam in good position for a go-ahead FG. Ryan took the snap in the shotgun on 3rd down and found Norwood over the middle. He made the catch and drove ahead to the 23 and with a 4th and 3 coming up the Falcons sent Elam onto the field. Elam came through again, putting the 40 yarder through to give the Falcons the lead again, 20-17 with 7:19 remaining.

The Falcons had given themselves a chance. Now it was up to the defense to stop Green Bay or at least hold them to a FG. Koenen did his job, booting the kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. The Packers got moving right away, with Grant running for 6 yards on the first play of the drive, and Humphrey catching a pass for 9 yards and a first down at the 35 on the next play. Rogers connected with Lee for 8 yards on the next play but the Packers were caught holding again and the play came back. This was pretty large; as the Packers would now have a 2nd and 20 all the way back at their 25. But Rodgers came right back with a 16 yard strike to Driver and the Falcons were called for illegal contact on the play. The Pack decided to take the five yards and the automatic first down to the 30. Atlanta took its second timeout with 5:23 on the clock. I liked this call, as it gave the defense a breather and allowed time to plan strategy. The Packers gave the ball to Grant for 3 yards on first down. On 2nd and 7 from the 33, Rogers took the snap under center and dropped back to pass but big John Abraham was on him in a flash. Rodgers tried to allude Abraham long enough to get out of the pocket but he couldn’t and as Abraham pulled him down he tried to throw the ball away and it didn’t get back to the line of scrimmage. The Falcons players and coaches (as well as fans) waited for the flag and finally it came. This was a huge play. The ball was moved all the way back to the 21 and the Packers would have 3rd down and 19. On 3rd down, Rodgers took the snap from the shotgun and fired the ball to the right but Michael Boley jumped up and intercepted at the 35. Boley returned it 16 yards to the 19 where Atlanta would take over up 3 with just over 4 and a half minutes to play. The Falcons defense had gotten the ball back for the team with the lead and in position to put the game away.

Now it was Turner time. He went left for 5 yards on first down and then went around the right end inside the five and was finally knocked out at the 2 after a 12 yard gain. On 1st and goal from the 2, Turner went over the left side and into the end zone for a touchdown. The Falcons had done the most with this opportunity and now led 27-17 with 3:35 to go.




Now the Falcons just needed to make Green Bay expend some time. Blackmon had some room on the kickoff but the Falcons brought him down at the 28. Rodgers threw for 9 yards and then 4 more and a first down at the 41. With the clock moving under 3 minutes to play, Rodgers took the shotgun snap and threw to Jennings on the left. Jennings broke a tackle and advanced the ball across midfield before finally going out at the 23 after a 36 yard gain. After an incompletion on 1st down, Rodgers found Humphrey for a 16 yard connection to the Atlanta 7 on second down. Rogers spiked the ball with 2:11 to go. On 2nd and goal from the 7, Rodgers took the shotgun snap and tried to run for the TD but he was brought down at the 4. The two-minute warning hit with the Packers facing a 3rd and goal at the 4. Rodgers took the snap in the shotgun and did a little shovel pass flip to Lee coming over the middle and he took it into the end zone for a TD. The extra point got the Packers back to within 3 points with 1:56 to play.

Rodgers’ gutsy effort had given the Packers a chance for an onsides kick but Crosby’s effort was poor. He kicked it right to Eric Coleman who fell on the ball at the GB 47. The Falcons needed one more first down to ice it. Turner took the handoff around right end on first down and got stopped after a gain of a yard. The Packers called their 2nd timeout with 1:49 on the clock. On 2nd down, Turner went up the middle and powered his way almost all the way to the first down. The Packers called their last timeout with 1:42 to play but the Falcons needed just 1 more yard for their first road win of the season. On 3rd down, Turner went back up the middle and pushed for a 2 yard gain to give the Falcons the first down at the 36. That was it. Two kneel downs ran the clock away and the Falcons had defeated the Packers at Lambeau Field, 27-24.




The Numbers

The Falcons won this game with a complete effort from the team. It was no fluke. The Packers outgained Atlanta by 38 yards, 408-378, but the Falcons had 1 more first down than Green Bay (22-21). The Falcons ran for 176 yards and threw for 194. Atlanta converted half of its 3rd downs into 1st downs, going 6 for 12 on 3rd down conversions, and 1 for 1 on 4th down. The Falcons played smart, committing just 2 penalties for 15 yards. The Packers, on the other hand, played incredibly dumb, committing 9 penalties for 97 yards. Both teams committed just 1 turnover and neither team fumbled. With rookie tackle Sam Baker back to close to full strength, the Falcons kept Matt Ryan protected all day. He had his best game on the road this year by far, completing 16 of 26 passes for 194 yards and 2 TD. He did throw 1 very bad INT but he was never sacked and he ran for 16 yards. Roddy White caught 8 balls for 132 yards and a TD, all in a standout performance in the first half. White caught the longest Atlanta pass of the game on the first offensive play, a 37 yard reception that got things going for the Falcons on their way to a TD. He was shutout in the second half but the extra attention paid to White allowed for other Falcon players to produce. Michael Turner carried the load for the Falcons on the ground, putting up easily his best game on the road as a Falcon, carrying 26 times for 121 yards, an average of 4.7 yards a carry. He scored 1 TD and had the longest Atlanta rush of the day, a 22 yard gain on the first play of the second Atlanta drive. Jerious Norwood didn’t have big numbers catching or running the ball but he had a huge 54 yard kickoff return in the 4th quarter. Jason Elam continued to get it done in the kicking game, going 2 for 2 on field goal tries, connecting from 41 and 42 yards out. Michael Koenen had an excellent day punting, kicking all 3 punts inside the 20, averaging 41.7 a punt, with a long of 53. The Falcons gave up 408 total yards, 304 passing and 104 rushing, but the defense sacked Rodgers twice and intercepted him in the 4th quarter. The Falcons held the Packers to just 7 points in the 1st half and just 10 points through 3 quarters. The Falcons outscored Green Bay 17-7 in the first half and 10-7 in the final 8 minutes of the game.

Significance

As always this year we need to keep an even keel as Falcons fans and not get too up or too down based on one or two games. But this win was pretty big for the Falcons. Through 4 games the Falcons were 2-2 but they had beaten two of the worst teams in the League at home and gotten beaten 24-9 in each of their road games against decent competition. On Sunday, the Falcons had almost certainly their most meaningful victory of the season. Yes, Green Bay was hurting and the Packers didn’t play very well. But Lambeau Field is not an easy place for visiting teams to play and the Packers are a solid team. This was not only the Falcons’ first win on the road, it was their first win over a decent team, and their first win in a close game. Against Detroit and KC the Falcons got out to huge leads and mostly cruised to easy wins. The Falcons played with a lead for much of this game but it was a battle and it was all even with 10 minutes to play.

I’ve got to say that this was a big win and a big performance because after the games against TB and Carolina, I didn’t think the Falcons were good enough yet to win a game on the road. The Falcons protected Ryan and had success running the football in this game, something they have to do in order to win and something they hadn’t been able to do in either of their previous two road games. Now, the Falcons may not win again on the road this year but at least we know and they know now that the potential is there and the ability is there. This win may be an isolated event but after the loss in Carolina I was assuming that the Falcons probably wouldn’t win in October. They ended that possibility in their very first try.

Moving Forward

Again, everybody’s trying hard to keep expectations low, but the Falcons keep doing better than expected. After the Falcons were soundly beaten and never really close to winning in Tampa or Carolina, I had felt like the Falcons were fairly limited in how good of a season they could have. But in my opinion their win in Green Bay opens things up again. The Falcons showed they could win on the road against a decent team and that puts more of their remaining games in the winnable category.

At 3-2, the Falcons have just 1 less win than they had all of last season and they’ve already won as many games on the road as they won last season. It seems crazy to talk about the playoffs but no matter what happens the rest of this month the Falcons are going to be in the picture heading into November. The schedule gets more manageable in November and if the Falcons keep improving they might still be in the picture in December. The Falcons don’t have an easy schedule down the stretch but it would still be fun to have a chance in December considering that this is a rebuilding year. Just being in contention would be huge.

Next week the Falcons are back home but their opponent will be much better than either of the two teams that have come to the Georgia Dome so far. Like the Falcons, the Bears are 3-2, but you’d have to say that Chicago’s 3-2 is much more impressive than Atlanta’s. They’ve scored 11 more points and allowed 20 less points than the Falcons in the same number of games. The Bears have won 2 of their 3 games on the road and they’ve played only one game against a bad team. They have beaten the Colts by 16 on the road, blown out the Lions by 27 on the road, and beaten the Eagles at home. Both of their losses were tough ones in close games. They lost by 3 points at Carolina and lost by 3 points in overtime against the Bucs at home. The Falcons normally have a hard time with the Bears. If the game was in Chicago I would give the Falcons almost no chance. I think it’s going to be hard to beat the Bears even at the Dome but maybe the Falcons will keep surprising us. The following week the Falcons are off and then they have one of their toughest games all season, at Philadelphia. At worst the Falcons will be 3-4 heading to November and if they can win one of the next two games they will be 4-4. It’s in November that the Falcons schedule gets a little less daunting. They play at Oakland and then have home games against the Saints, the Broncos, and the Chargers. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I’m just enjoying having a team to watch on Sunday’s that will be fun to root for and will represent my city well.