Atlanta Falcons vs. Green Bay Packers: Full Report Card Grades for Atlanta
The Atlanta Falcons almost came back to win after spotting the Green Bay Packers the first half of the game Monday night. The final score was 43-37, and a mistake here or there cost the Falcons the game. However, they did show the most promise that they have had all season.
Atlanta may be 5-8 heading into its last three games, but it looks like a team that could take on the Steelers, Saints and Panthers and win all three games. The only real question is what the condition of Julio Jones is after his hip injury Monday night.
Quarterbacks
1 of 10
After a slow start in the first half where Matt Ryan just couldn't get anything going and even threw an interception, he drastically turned it around in the second half. He finished the game with 375 yards through the air on 39 passes for four touchdowns.
He was even solid as a scrambler when necessary. The two times he ran the ball, he gained 23 yards and a pair of crucial first downs. On all three fourth downs, the Falcons converted the plays into either touchdowns or first downs. Atlanta was also 5-of-5 in the red zone with four of those passes being touchdowns.
His decision-making was pretty easy, as it seemed to be the Julio Jones Show. As Ryan continued to feed the beast, the Falcons offense continued to create plays and claw its way back into the game. Unfortunately, the Falcons came up short as Ryan couldn't get one last opportunity.
Grade: B
Running Backs and Fullbacks
2 of 10
Atlanta's running backs were a big reason why one of the touchdowns on offense was scored this week. They also gave Atlanta just enough balance in the running game to be effective with play-action passes and short-yardage runs.
Steven Jackson finished with just 50 yards but gained first downs in crucial third-down situations by following his blocking. He also gained another 26 yards through the air on short catches. Jacquizz Rodgers and Devonta Freeman also gained a combined 24 yards through the air on crucial catches.
The smaller-back combination had some issues running the ball, though. Taking out Rodger's 14-yard carry, they combined for just four yards on their other three carries. Patrick DiMarco did what he could to help as a fullback, but outside of one catch for nine yards, none of his efforts could be quantified.
Grade: B
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Julio Jones had a monster game against the Packers. In arguably the best game of his career, he had 11 catches for 259 yards and one touchdown. He was a big reason why the Falcons had any shot of sticking in there with the Packers. Unfortunately, Jones went down toward the end of the game with a hip injury.
If he's out for any sort of time, the Falcons will need Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Devin Hester to perform better than their combined five-catch, 53-yard and two-touchdown effort against the Packers. White did have a great catch over the middle on the final touchdown drive, though.
Atlanta didn't get any contributions from its tight ends in the passing offense, but they did look excellent as run-blockers. It's becoming more and more obvious that Atlanta needs to invest in a pass-catching tight end during the upcoming NFL draft.
Grade: A
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Offensive Linemen
4 of 10
Atlanta's offensive line should continue to go with the Jake Matthews, Justin Blalock, James Stone, Jon Asamoah and Ryan Schraeder configuration as long as the players can stay healthy. Matthews and Schraeder have looked like legitimate starting offensive tackles over the past six games.
Asamoah and Blalock have been the rocks along the offensive line, and Stone has been a solid fill-in for the injured Joe Hawley at center. Atlanta had an excellent game against a talented Green Bay front that should instill confidence into the offensive line for the final part of the season.
Atlanta strung together a running game that gained 3.8 yards per carry and took just enough pressure off the passing offense. The O-line also allowed Ryan to get hit just three times and sacked once. If the line can allow just that every week, the Falcons could make the playoffs.
Grade: A
Defensive Linemen and Edge Players
5 of 10
Atlanta had one of its performances up front all season. The defense was unable to get to Aaron Rodgers outside of one sack early in the game. The linemen also were unable to hit him outside of the three hits and the five tackles on his scrambles.
That's unacceptable. The issues for the Falcons defense can be traced back to the inability to stop the run, as Green Bay had 6.0 yards per carry. And when a team carries the ball 30 times and gains 179 yards on your defense, it's time to try something new.
On top of that, when the Falcons did get pressure, they weren't able to generate it with four-man pass rushes. At this point, they need to try something different up front. They trust younger players throughout the rest of the defense. Why can't they trust them with these units?
Grade: F
Linebackers
6 of 10
During the first half of the game, the Falcons were terrible in their linebacking corps. They were taking horrible angles and allowed way too many yards in coverage with missed tackles. However, after the half, everything changed.
Sure, Paul Worrilow, Prince Shembo and Joplo Bartu combined for a total of 16 tackles, but the majority of them came in the second half. The best play they made all game was when Worrilow knocked the ball away on a third-down pass that forced a field goal.
If Atlanta can continue to get the level of play from its linebackers that it got in the second half, it could wind up improving the run defense drastically. Nonetheless, during the long running play on the final drive of the game, Worrilow took a bad angle and could not tackle James Starks in the most crucial moment.
Grade: C
Secondary
7 of 10
After William Moore went down again, Kemal Ishmael stepped up and performed admirably. He's turned into a competent starting safety in the NFL. He was burned deep against Jordy Nelson during the middle of the game, but few, if any, safeties have been able to keep up with Nelson all year.
Moore was solid during the early part of the game, but the injury that sidelined him could have him out for the year. Dwight Lowery did well as the free safety, turning another game where he made some crucial tackles.
And while the Packers were able to gain a ton of yards against the secondary, Atlanta's players were right there to make tackles and limit the plays immediately. The biggest issues were a lack of takeaways and being forced to play in coverage for more than five seconds every play.
Grade: A
Special Teams
8 of 10
As a returning group, Eric Weems and Devin Hester combined for 192 yards on their eight returns. Atlanta's average starting field position was at its own 26-yard line. Considering they didn't have a single turnover to help with that, it's pretty exceptional.
The Packers had a starting field position averaging near their own 35, though. However, when you take out their field position from the onside kicks and the interception, it moves back to the 24. Atlanta's field-position game was near its best against the Packers.
At kicker, Matt Bryant was perfect on his extra points. However, he did have one of his kicks blocked. That one mistake was caused by a poor snap by Josh Harris. Had the Falcons gotten those three points, Atlanta would have been able to focus on trying to get back an onside kick and get a field goal instead of a touchdown.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
The Falcons came out to a slow start on defense because they decided to continue playing Kroy Biermann. Green Bay targeted Biermann all game and made sure to key on him as the Falcons' biggest weakness. Fortunately, Atlanta started rotating him out for Osi Umenyiora and others before it got too late.
That one personnel decision is just a microcosm of the entire game. Atlanta also finally got its offense going when it figured out to just feed the hottest hand in Julio Jones. The Falcons also established a running game to help create balance that they have needed for three seasons now.
Despite allowing 31 points in the first half against the Packers, Atlanta was able to win the second half of the game by forcing poor throws with excellent coverage and above-average run defense. However, the team still needs better pass rushing. Not playing Jonathan Massaquoi will come back to bite the coaching staff.
Grade: C
Overall Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterbacks | B |
| Running Backs and Fullbacks | B |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | A |
| Offensive Linemen | A |
| Defensive Linemen and Edge Players | F |
| Linebackers | C |
| Secondary | A |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | C |
| Overall | B |
The Falcons played one of their best halves of the season in the second half of the Packers game. They attacked an opponent in both their strengths and weaknesses. The offense set the tone and dictated the game instead of taking what the Green Bay defense would give it.
The defense turned it around and forced the Green Bay offense to beat the defense right until the very end. Atlanta needs some more talent, but it won't be able to get that until the offseason. But with nearly $30 million in cap space and all eight draft picks available, Atlanta could make that next step in 2015.
The Falcons just need to continue to show the heart that they showed against the Packers.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld.
Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.
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