Official Game Day Thread: Packers @ Atlanta - 10/9: Win 25 - 14

At the risk of being blasted, this is one of the games I figured the Packers would lose this year. But I'm actually second guessing that after seeing the trouble Atlanta has been having. If they bring their A game, I think the Pack will lose. If they bring anything less, the Pack will win.

Anything can happen in the NFL. Any team can beat any other team on any given day if the cards line up right. But honestly, I have not seen anything that would lead me to believe we will not win this one. Atlanta's O line is crap. If your O line is crap you can't run and you can't throw. I look for Capers to Dial it up against Matty. It's already been shown this year that's the way to beat them, take turner away and pound Matty. We are on Turf indoors, That gives us an edge over them. We have speed on both sides of the ball. Routes will be crisper, Atlanta's secondary is not deep enough to stop us. We have our new running game, things can happen but I just can't see this game getting away from us.

5-0 baby, last time we said that we played the NFC championship game at home. I may be wrong. I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

Living in Lincoln I was worried that I wouldnt get many games but I have seen all of them except the Panthers.

Saints
Bears
Broncos

All those games have been here and since this is the Sunday Night game I will get it!

This is the first game this year that makes me a little nervous. Should be a fairly dependable win but could very easily become the classic trap game. Wouldn't bet money on Atlanta but they could certainly sneak one in on the Pack if they aren't on their game.

Good points.
They beat us in 2008 in Green Bay. They beat us in Atlanta last October or November, and of course Rodgers torched them in January.
But that game was like a shootout, until Tramon's brilliant pick in the end zone on the pass intended for Michael Jenkins. It was like a "service break" in tennis.

Then when Atlanta got greedy trying to get a little closer for the 3 pointer right before half, Tramon again picked it and took it back for 7 for us. That was a 10-point swing right there, and his end zone int a bit earlier was close to a TD for Atlanta.

My point is, our defense DID have some problems with their offense, as they did earlier in that season, and in 2008.

We showed we can shut down a good RB like Forte. But that's easy when there's no WRs like a Roddy White, or Julio Jones. Or TE like Tony Gonzalez. Thank God Martz got rid of Greg Olsen because that guy's had our number.

Anyway, our loss to Atlanta last year was the magic CLUTCH moment from Rodgers that was worth a million $, even though we'd later blow the game on the kick return.

Remember that play? Down 7, under a minute to go... great drive, now 4th & goal at about the 8 yard line.... nobody open, rolling left.... rolling..... there's Jordy going to the sideline, gotta hurry before he's out of bounds as the coverage closes. GREAT lazer pass, great catch, TD, tie game!
Remember everyone in the media was talking about how Rodgers had not pulled any games out in the clutch? How his W-L record in 4-point or less games was ironically very poor?

When he did that, I knew he'd gotten his clutch gene ready!

Anyway, we could whip these guys again, like 41-24 or something.
But we could also lose a game like 38-37.
Atlanta is a lot better at home than on the road.
Our defense needs to play their best game yet.

If we get beat I would expect it to be the same way they beat us last year (they march down the field and kick a field goal as time expires)

Don't say that. Bah, I'll be so pissed.

They should be frothing at the mouth after the beatdown we put on them in the playoffs. Their offense is a little bit better than what we saw last season but their defense sure isn't. Plus, I am still miffed at John Abraham for his mockery of the championship belt. It's little things like that that get me fired up for games like this.

I think it might be somewhat of a good idea to have a little ball control in this game...their offense at home can be an elite offense. Julio Jones was targeted 18 times and caught 11 balls, Tony G is playing like he's not old, 2 things they didn't really have last year...don't forget they did add Ray Edwards from the Vikes to play opposite of John Abraham. Tough GAME, CAN'T WAIT to see it SUNDAY NIGHT!!!

I would also like to point out that Aaron Rodgers IS better then Matt Ryan in every way

ENJOY THIS LINK I FOUND, it's a Falcon Biased review PRIOR to the Playoff Game w/ ATL
http://www.nfltouchdown.com/falcons-host-the-packers-on-saturday-night-showdown/



HEY ATLANTA!!! WE'RE BB-AAA-AAACCKKK!!!!

i'm calling it now:

blowout:

pack: 35

atl: 14

publish dat shi' !

I think the falcons will give us fits,but the safeties will be watchful and come up big time Matt will throw a couple our way just feel a win here,

With a confident Aaron Rodgers as quarterback and dangerous receivers of the Green Bay Packers, no one in the NFL will be able to beat them in shootout. Nobody.

I hope the Packers destroy the Falcons!! Don't like Matt Ryan, he acts if he's better than everybody on the field

Just one time will someone please tell me how some team plays "with a chip on it's shoulder?" Let's be honest, every single opponent of the Packers this season will have a chip on their shoulder. It will not affect the game. Chicago had to have a bigger chip on their shoulder than the Falcons right? And we whooped them.
The very plain fact of the matter is that the Packers are really, very seriously a good football team. I'm not normally so boisterously homeristic but heck, this kind of team only comes around 3 or 4 times in a lifetime (if you are a Packer fan, less often if some other teams fan).
I refuse to buy into the concept that Atlanta's success in the past in the dome or our success in the playoffs has any bearing on this game. The Packers are the world champs and have been playing Like Dat. I expect the Packers will see every trick that every team has devised over the off season, every players best game, every teams' devotion and go-for-broke kind of desperation. Everyone acknowledges that repeating is one of the most difficult achievements in football.
It remains a singular simple fact that our team is clearly the best in the NFL and it's on other teams fans to wring their hands and worry. I'm simply going to sit back, enjoy the ride and swallow it like a fine glass of cognac. Oh, and for the one poster who said it might be a "trap" game. Puhleez, if you think the Packers and their coaches would overlook this team based on this season's record you're off a bit. They know exactly who this Falcons team is.

Falcons are going to get obliterated by Aaron Rodgers' and Co. This offense that we have is HOF material.

I think they are really going to be trying to throw all over the place.

Face it, The Packers totally exposed the Falcons weakness in the playoffs.

One thing I never heard anyone talk about when we lost to them in the regular season is how they milked the clock on us. We could have beat them in that game, but they ran the ball very well, and were letting the clock run by it. Come playoff time, we shut down Michael Turner, and that created the blue print to stopping Atlanta.

When the Falcons can't run the ball, they go into panic mode with shotgun passes, and Ryan is heavily dependent on 2 people: Gonzalez and Roddy White.

Even in wins last season for them, they were comfortable running the ball and they could milk down the clock so it didn't matter. Also when they lost to the Saints late last season, they ran the ball very well, but they just couldn't get it done through the air. (Had it not been for Brees throwing picks in that game, the Saints probably would have won by 10+)

This season, teams have been shutting down their run and forcing them to pass. Matt Ryan is a decent quarterback, but he is not someone you can depend on to put the ball in the air 40-50 times a game. he's not overrated, that team is overrated as a whole. You can win 13 games off an easy schedule, home field advantage or not, they just couldn't take us last season.

The biggest factor here is DEFENSE.

Atlanta gives up big numbers like we have been doing. Well you tell me, when you're up against Seattle who has a bad quarterback and not much of a run game, how in the hell do you go up 24-0 and win 28-30? They gave up all those points in the second half, and had it been New Orleans, New England, or Detroit, they would have finished that game.

We have the edge in the game, and if our defense can step up, we could win by more than 7 points.

Good luck Packers Fans. Let's hope this is a good game this time, and hope for no injuries at the end!

Very underrated part of Collins' game.

People complained he didn't make too many plays behind or near the LOS, but that was a load of bull. Collins' primary role in Capers' offense has always been playing cover 1 as the last line of defense, he wasn't allowed to make a lot of plays quite frankly, and we just took it for granted that, as long as it wasn't Jarrett Bush covering, no long pass would be completed against this secondary.

It's a technique issue that LeRoy Butler explained brilliantly in his x's and o's video at JSOnline. Burnett has all the range to be a great deep safety, and exactly because he has that athleticism and playmaking ability, much like Sharper in his time, Burnett is taking too many risks.

I hope that, unlike Sharper, he actually learns the position instead of just complaining and gambling on every other play like Sharper did. Sharper was able to find coordinators who were glad to shift their entire defense just for him, or that had a scheme that coincidentally fitted him.

Burnett won't have that option in Green Bay. Not until, or if, Collins returns.

To the Falcons fans:

Don't take this as a Favre-to-Rodgers "compliment", but I have a question about Matt Ryan.

Up until last year, he was great at working out of playaction passes and short routes, completing 62.5% of his passes. But he was very tentative with long passes if the receiver wasn't wide open, as demonstrated by having only 6.6 yards per attempt, lower than the likes of Brady (7.9), Brees (7.0), Manning (6.9) and Rodgers (8.4).

Is he improved in that area? So far the numbers indicate not much(6.9), despite the added deep threat, but 4 games are not necessarily a statistical indication of anything. Are backshoulder throws and such a regular on your offense?

Sorry if this feels like a backhanded compliment, I do question Ryan's middle and deep accuracy, but he's a very young QB, he has never had many deep threats, and there is much more to QB play than those routes, Brady has never been great at those and Brady is Brady. Ryan has an uncanny ability to make great decisions and doesn't get rattled easily.

I'm just looking to a fresher, more precise take on the man.

I think the Packers can win this one. I was more fearful of Denver when the game came up than I was with Atlanta, because I believe the Packers know that Atlanta wants their head. Right now EVERY team wants to be the one that beats the Packers, we have the bounty over our heads, and for Atlanta its personal, just like with the Bears, its personal.

I think we can unleash the Matthews this game.

Ryan has trusted his receivers more this year, with Jones and White on both sides, so we've seen more deep balls than the past three years. He can throw the deep ball, but his accuracy and zip needs some work. His deep balls hang too long, and when Jones catches them he has to stop to catch it. Even though the catches are great, Jones could be scoring TDs. Then there's times when he overthrows the ball. He will get there soon, just needs to mature.

I'm glad he's taking shots down field, and once he can throw the deep ball we can really start utilizing our weapons. Especially with Julio Jones jumping 20 feet in the air, lol. But it also may be due to the O-Line. Although they held pretty good last week for once, they were just playing the Seahawks so I won't give them too much praise. Ryan needs more time to get the ball out of his hands when in the pocket, but he himself also needs to use his speed, which isn't bad at all considering he played almost every sport. This game on Sunday will be a real test, and I hope the O-Line goes back to it's top 5 O-Line status soon, because Ryan is no wimp like Vick, but he can't take too much hits and finish the season.

Thanks for the response.

The deep accuracy was the one thing that kept me from putting Ryan in that "elite category". Because he has everything else. But without that constant threat of a deep completion, specially against prolific offenses like ours, it's hard to win in this league. You can't be methodical and cerebral against high powered offenses... Not all the time.

If Matty can start getting Jones and Roddy or even Gonzo about 20 yards or more, he can start something I believe. His passing game just won't be as effective 50 yards out unless he takes some magic pills before the game. He will get there, but not before this game. The secondary of Green Bay is basically their only weakness, and it could hardly be called that since it's totally covered up by their ability to score at will with Aaron carving up almost every secondary we play. This game will be harder for our defense, than the offense. I can't wait!

Such as it is pictured on the right of Mr. StyleZ awesome sig, I wonder if Falcons players learned their lesson.
No! You cannot put on the title belt!
Especially in front of Aaron Rodgers.

Even though the Pack went on to win and Aaron got an actual title belt, part of me wants the Pack to win again to show that one shall not mock thy title belt.