NFC Divisional Wrapup: Packers/Falcons

Going into Saturday night's clash between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons, there was one thing that nobody could deny. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is pretty darn good. After the game, that changed. Rodgers is pretty darn awesome.

While no one has ever really doubted Rodgers and his talent, the Atlanta Falcons defense could find no answer for him. They could barely provide any pressure. When they did, Rodgers, whose foot speed is underrated, found the means still make a play for positive yardage. WHen the smoke cleared, Rodgers was 31-36 for 366 yards and 3 TD. And don't forget to add his rush TD either.

The Pack didn't need the newly discovered running attack either although they did manage to rush for 96 yards. Rodgers was the story...and the show.

The defense provided a score as well. CB Truman Williams picked off an ill-advised Matt Ryan pass and sprinted 70 yards for the score. Bad timing, too. Atlanta was driving for a potential field goal when Ryan released the pass. All the Falcons were trying to do was get a little closer for K Matt Bryant to attempt that field goal. It never happened. The Falcons never recovered from the half ending score.

Yes, the turnover bug had the Falcons solely in its sights. Four times the Falcons gave the ball to Green Bay. Twice on picks by Williams (one in the endzone) and twice the Falcons put the ball on the turf. Hard to win with a -3 turnover ratio for a game.

I felt going into this game that the Falcons were getting no respect. They were the NFC's #1 seed, but it seemed they were under the radar.

They're still there and haven't been found.

NFL Monday Night Wrap-Up-Falcons/Saints

27   35

Not that last night's game didn't lack a little excitement. In fact, the game had a little bit of everything...defensive touchdowns off turnovers, lots of offense and scoring, missed field goals from two pretty accurate kickers. Just a few things I took away from last night's Falcons/Saints clash.

1. I mentioned the turnovers. Considering that these two teams are considered playoff teams, there were too many turnovers. Falcons QB Matt Ryan threw 3 picks with one of those being returned 48 yard for a Saints TD by Jabari Greer. Saints QB Drew Brees threw a pick and fumbled which was scooped up and returned for a TD by Atlanta's Kroy Biermann. Saints RBs Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell also put the ball on the ground which were recovered bt the Falcons. That's seven total turnovers.

2. I questioned the "disappearance" of Falcons RB Michael Turner (right). He "appeared" last night with 20 carries for 151 yards and a TD...and this effort. That's the Michael Turner we saw in 2008!

3. Between the Falcons Jason Elam and the Saints John Carney, there were three missed filed goals. Elam missed two, a 34 yard try that banged off the left post and a 51 yard effort that missed miserably left at the end of the first half. He did connect from 25 and 40 yards. For the season, Elam is only 60% (6 of 10) on all FG attempts for the season. For his career, Elam is 81%. Carney missed an effort from 37 yards that was pushed to the right and is 73% for the season (8 of 11) and 82.4% for his career. And some people don't think kicking can make a difference. Elam hits all his tres and the game is that much closer.

4. All we know about Saints WR Marques Colston (left) is that he "is a beast." He was referred to as that on at least four occassions during last night's telecast. And he performed like one. All Brees had to do was put the ball within 5 yards of Colston and he came up with the reception. To Jon Gruden, I concur.

5. The most impressive stat of the night: The Saints had four drives of at least 80 yards. Simple math tells me that's at least 320 yards of offense. I did say the "bend, but don't break" defense of the Falcons would eventually catch up to them and it did against New Orleans. The Saints managed a redzone efficiency of 75% (3 for 4) and 100% (2 for 2) on goal-to-goal situations.

The loss by Atlanta now puts them three games behind New Orleans in the NFC South with a long road to go in order to win the division. It's not to early to think about their playoff possibilities. They do get New Orleans at home in week 14. Atlanta has three other tests ahead. They travel to the Meadowlands twice (week 11 for the Giants and week 15 for the Jets) and will play host to the Eagls in week 13. The Saints have the easiest remaining schedule in the league.

A long road, indeed.