Green Bay’s 25 unanswered points helped the Packers move to 5-0 after beating the Atlanta Falcons, 25-14, at the Georgia Dome on Sunday Night. Superstar Aaron Rodgers completed passes to twelve different receivers while fighting for his life behind a makeshift offensive line.
The loss was a spoiler for Matt Ryan who came into Sunday’s affair with a 21-2 record at home. Now, two of Ryan’s three career losses in Atlanta (the other being the 2010 NFC Championship game) can be credited to the Packers.
Even though the Packers ended up with a fifth straight victory, Green Bay’s play wasn’t very pretty in the first half.
Book-end Chad Clifton went down with an ugly looking hamstring injury in the first half, causing the Packers to go with back-ups at both tackle positions. At first, Marshall Newhouse and Derek Sherrod didn’t exactly serve as suitable back-ups per say (Rodgers was sacked four times), but I will admit that they steadily improved as the game went on.
In addition to the offensive line struggles, the defense was very spotty, particularly in the first half while allowing the Falcons to dink and dunk all the way down the field on the first couple of possessions. Similar to the offensive line, the defense made the right adjustments and had a great second half.
Mason Crosby, arguably the Packers most underrated performer, had a great game. He was 4-for-4 on field goals including a 56 yarder in the third quarter which capped off the first nine points for Green Bay when they had no chance of reaching the end-zone.
That all changed though when Rodgers connected with James Jones for a 70 yard touchdown in the third quarter, giving the Packers their first lead of the game. Greg Jennings would join Jones with a receiving touchdown of his own while stretching out for a sensational score early in the fourth quarter. From there on the Packers wouldn’t look back as Rodgers finished the game 26/39 with 396 yards and two touchdowns.
Next week, the Packers return home to take on the St. Louis Rams (0-4) in a game slated for 12:00 PM CT.
Are the Packers clearly the best team in the NFL and what did you think of their win versus the Falcons? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Brewers. He also enjoys to share Fantasy Advice from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.