net
Cheesehead
PACKERS 33, FALCONS 25
Blindsided out of first
Knocked off perch as 1-7 Green Bay surprises
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/14/05
In the NFL, some losses can be chalked up in the cliché category: "On any given Sunday ... You can't win 'em all."
The Falcons' 33-25 loss to the downtrodden and injury-plagued Green Bay Packers Sunday before a Georgia Dome crowd that, near the end, was made up of Cheeseheads screaming "Go Pack Go," well, veteran linebacker Ike Reese explains.
"It stinks," he said.
Not the feeling, Reese said, the performance.
"Some of it was due to the fact that we played a 1-7 team," Reese said, not factoring in the Packers' second victory, courtesy of Sunday's outcome. "Good teams know how to put a team like that away. Carolina put the Jets away easily. You can't allow the game to fester. Good teams come in, take care of their business and get out. To me we are a good team, but at the same time, every once in a while you see where our maturity level is not where it needs to be."
The postgame mood wasn't like that of a loss when a team gets outplayed. It was one where players realized — four quarters too late — that this was the type of defeat that could come back to haunt them. Carolina (7-2) took sole possession of the NFC South and Tampa Bay moved into a second-place tie with Atlanta (6-3), which lost in the Dome under coach Jim Mora for just the third time.
Atlanta now gets into the meat of its conference schedule, playing host to Tampa Bay next week before sandwiching Carolina and New Orleans around a Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit.
As upset as Falcons players and coaches were, there was no finger-pointing. That's because everyone was to blame.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre spearheaded the dismantling. Probably playing his last game in Atlanta, the 15-year veteran left an impression that no one who saw his dissection of the Falcons will soon forget. Favre completed passes to eight receivers in the flat, across the middle, underneath — but not deep — to finish 26-for-39 for 252 yards and a touchdown.
There were times when he was so in tune, even when Falcons defenders were close to the receivers, he rifled the ball where only they could catch it. And they caught it. He led the Packers to touchdown drives on their first two possessions to rattle the Falcons like they hadn't been shaken this season — even when they fell behind 21-0 to Seattle.
"He's an incredible competitor, and you have to expect that guy to show up when you're playing them," Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney said.
Added Mora: "How many times have we seen him make those types of plays like he did on that third down, where he just eludes someone's grasp and however he gets it there, he gets it done? I've always said that my two favorite players in the history of the game are Ronnie Lott and Brett Favre."
Mora probably couldn't name two of his favorite players from Sunday's game. Atlanta turned the ball over three times (it fumbled six times, total), struggled in the return game — again — and allowed 351 total yards, 103 rushing to Samkon Gado, an undrafted rookie making his first start.
Falcons players said Packers coach Mike Sherman, who fired Ed Donatell as his defensive coordinator before Mora hired him after being named head coach in 2004, exploited their defensive tendencies.
"I just think they had a better game plan," Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "I think Coach Sherman came out here and did his homework and executed to perfection."
Quarterback Michael Vick completed 20 of 30 passes for 209 yards, his second straight game surpassing 200 yards. However, he opened the game by being penalized for throwing a pass after he'd run beyond the line of scrimmage, fumbled three times, losing one, and rarely found his rhythm because of Green Bay's unrelenting pressure.
Vick mishandled the snap on his second fumble and center Todd McClure recovered, but the near turnover in the fourth quarter came on third down when the Falcons were on Green Bay's 13-yard line. Instead of having a chance to score a needed touchdown, they settled for a Todd Peterson field goal that brought them to 23-17.
Wide receiver Roddy White fumbled on Atlanta's next possession after a catch deep in Falcons territory. On the next possession, Gado scored his third career touchdown.
"I don't think we were flat, we just didn't do what it took," Vick said. "We've got to put points on the board, you can't turn the ball over, and we did."
Blindsided out of first
Knocked off perch as 1-7 Green Bay surprises
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/14/05
In the NFL, some losses can be chalked up in the cliché category: "On any given Sunday ... You can't win 'em all."
The Falcons' 33-25 loss to the downtrodden and injury-plagued Green Bay Packers Sunday before a Georgia Dome crowd that, near the end, was made up of Cheeseheads screaming "Go Pack Go," well, veteran linebacker Ike Reese explains.
"It stinks," he said.
Not the feeling, Reese said, the performance.
"Some of it was due to the fact that we played a 1-7 team," Reese said, not factoring in the Packers' second victory, courtesy of Sunday's outcome. "Good teams know how to put a team like that away. Carolina put the Jets away easily. You can't allow the game to fester. Good teams come in, take care of their business and get out. To me we are a good team, but at the same time, every once in a while you see where our maturity level is not where it needs to be."
The postgame mood wasn't like that of a loss when a team gets outplayed. It was one where players realized — four quarters too late — that this was the type of defeat that could come back to haunt them. Carolina (7-2) took sole possession of the NFC South and Tampa Bay moved into a second-place tie with Atlanta (6-3), which lost in the Dome under coach Jim Mora for just the third time.
Atlanta now gets into the meat of its conference schedule, playing host to Tampa Bay next week before sandwiching Carolina and New Orleans around a Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit.
As upset as Falcons players and coaches were, there was no finger-pointing. That's because everyone was to blame.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre spearheaded the dismantling. Probably playing his last game in Atlanta, the 15-year veteran left an impression that no one who saw his dissection of the Falcons will soon forget. Favre completed passes to eight receivers in the flat, across the middle, underneath — but not deep — to finish 26-for-39 for 252 yards and a touchdown.
There were times when he was so in tune, even when Falcons defenders were close to the receivers, he rifled the ball where only they could catch it. And they caught it. He led the Packers to touchdown drives on their first two possessions to rattle the Falcons like they hadn't been shaken this season — even when they fell behind 21-0 to Seattle.
"He's an incredible competitor, and you have to expect that guy to show up when you're playing them," Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney said.
Added Mora: "How many times have we seen him make those types of plays like he did on that third down, where he just eludes someone's grasp and however he gets it there, he gets it done? I've always said that my two favorite players in the history of the game are Ronnie Lott and Brett Favre."
Mora probably couldn't name two of his favorite players from Sunday's game. Atlanta turned the ball over three times (it fumbled six times, total), struggled in the return game — again — and allowed 351 total yards, 103 rushing to Samkon Gado, an undrafted rookie making his first start.
Falcons players said Packers coach Mike Sherman, who fired Ed Donatell as his defensive coordinator before Mora hired him after being named head coach in 2004, exploited their defensive tendencies.
"I just think they had a better game plan," Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "I think Coach Sherman came out here and did his homework and executed to perfection."
Quarterback Michael Vick completed 20 of 30 passes for 209 yards, his second straight game surpassing 200 yards. However, he opened the game by being penalized for throwing a pass after he'd run beyond the line of scrimmage, fumbled three times, losing one, and rarely found his rhythm because of Green Bay's unrelenting pressure.
Vick mishandled the snap on his second fumble and center Todd McClure recovered, but the near turnover in the fourth quarter came on third down when the Falcons were on Green Bay's 13-yard line. Instead of having a chance to score a needed touchdown, they settled for a Todd Peterson field goal that brought them to 23-17.
Wide receiver Roddy White fumbled on Atlanta's next possession after a catch deep in Falcons territory. On the next possession, Gado scored his third career touchdown.
"I don't think we were flat, we just didn't do what it took," Vick said. "We've got to put points on the board, you can't turn the ball over, and we did."
