Green Bay Packers vs. Atlanta Falcons: 5 Ways the Packers Can Beat the Falcons
The Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons will meet this Saturday in a game that seems to have all the makings of an instant Playoff classic.
The Atlanta Falcons have been sitting on top of the NFC with their 13-3 record, and home field advantage throughout, just waiting to see who their first opponent would be. They have now had two weeks to prepare, but also two weeks to cool down.
On the other side of the ball, the Green Bay Packers have been fighting for their Playoff lives seemingly since the halfway point of the season. The Pack has fought through devastating injuries, inconsistencies, and clawed and scratched to win their final two games against a streaky New York Giants team, and their division winning rivals, the Chicago Bears.
Last week in the Wild Card round, they went all underdog on Mike Vick and the Eagles (Pun Intended), and came away with an impressive 21-16 road Playoff win.
The Atlanta Falcons have been arguably the best team in the league throughout this season, and they have collected their spoils of a first round bye and home field advantage. They are a solid all around team, and are led by one of the best young quarterback’s in the league, Matt Ryan.
It’s going to undoubtedly be a very tough game, so let’s take a look at five ways the Packers can beat the Falcons:
5. Control The Football!!!
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This might sound like an incredibly cliché thing to say, but I believe tempo is going to be a huge factor in this game, and the Packers have every ability to manipulate it in their favor.
It’s common knowledge that the Green Bay Packers go, as Aaron Rodgers goes. A-Rodge is the heartbeat of this team, so the more you can put the ball in his hands; the more he has the opportunity to make big plays.
Elementary speaking it comes down to one thing: Time of Possession.
There must be a focus on controlling the ball while on offense, and getting off the field quickly on defense.
Let’s continue breaking this down deeper...
4. Catch The Football!!!
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Dropped passes have become somewhat of a problem in the past few weeks, which is an unsettling fact, but thankfully the Packers have been good enough to overcome them.
The further along you go into the playoff’s though, the more those mistakes will come back to haunt you. Looking back at the Eagles game I can distinctly remember at least one drop by each of the Packers receivers, and all of them came at big moments of the game.
I’m sure James Jones is never going to forget that beautiful dime that Rodgers dropped into his hands at the end of the first half. Unfortunately, he’s not going to forget it because he dropped it, and looking back it made the game much closer than it really needed to be.
In order to win the Packers must control the tempo of this game, and in order to control the tempo they need to keep their offense on the field.
In order to stay on the field they need to stop dropping those perfect passes that Rodgers is laying on them. They need to sustain drives, and catch those third down passes.
It’s a rather simple equation actually.
Catch the ball!
3. Run The Football!!!
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If it seems that I’m being really simple over here I am very sorry. The fact of the matter is that football is all about fundamentals though, and the team that executes the basics best usually ends up on top.
Since losing Ryan Grant the Packers have really struggled to find a consistent running game. Brandon Jackson is nothing more than a third down back. We all love John Kuhn, but if we're going to be honest he is at his best in short yardage situations, and could never be a feature back.
Rookie running back, James Starks, really found the formula that the Packers needed last week against the Eagles. He looked like a powerful downhill runner on his way to 123 yards on 23 attempts.
I’ve been high on Starks for a couple weeks now, and I believe he is going to have to play a key role in the game for the Packers to once again pull off an upset.
Back to the basics: A running game is key to controlling the tempo of the game.
Obviously you have the ability to milk a ton of clock, but you can also utilize the run to set up your passing game, and that is something that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are great at when they have a good rushing attack.
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2. Contain Matt Ryan!!!
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This is where simple goes right out the window.
This theory is much easier said than done, but the Packers have the personnel on defense to give “Matty Ice” a hard time this Saturday.
Matt Ryan accumulated an impressive 28 touchdowns on the year, and 10 of them went to his star wide out, Roddy White. White is obviously Ryan’s go to guy for the big play, but the Packers would be remiss if they forgot about Tony Gonzalez in the middle of the field.
Gonzalez had 70 receptions for 656 yards, and 6 touchdowns on the season; which is incredibly impressive for a player his age.
The Packers are going to have to counter Atlanta’s passing attack with two players in particular:
Tramon Williams and Nick Collins.
Williams is on everybody’s Pro-Bowl snub list, and he showed us why with his clutch interception to end the game last week in Philly. With Charles Woodson being used more as a spy, or in blitz Packages, the responsibility of locking down the opposing teams #1 has rested on Tramon Williams.
He's going to have to lock down Roddy White.
Nick Collins missed a few games this season due to injury, yet he still managed to come second on the team with four interceptions. Collins does an incredible job ball-hawking the middle of the field, and he is going to have to play a huge role in containing the amount of open looks that Tony Gonzales will get.
1. Stop Michael Turner!!!
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I remember back to the days when Michael Turner was a relatively unknown backup to LT in San Diego. Unfortunately for the Pack, Turner is no backup running back anymore. This man can run!
Turner has had an incredible season racking up 1,371 yards and 12 touchdowns on 334 carries. He has been a fitting compliment to Matt Ryan’s arm, and helps out the Falcons passing game in many ways.
Michael Turner is known for his relentless downhill running style, and his churning legs. It’s really tough to get this guy down, let alone push him backwards. When these two teams met in the regular season Turner played a huge role in Atlanta’s win.
He had 110 yards and one touchdown in a close 20-17 win.
The Packers have improved drastically since the last time they were in Atlanta though, and I believe they have the ability to slow Turner down.
B.J Raji has emerged as a star at the nose tackle position, and he is going to have to play a big role in clogging up the line up scrimmage. If the front three can cause enough havoc at the line, they will free up much more space for the linebackers to utilize in tracking down the runner.
Speaking of linebackers this guy alone could have been reason number one the Packers will win:
Clay Matthews.
Matthews has shown the ability to change a game all by himself, and I think most people would be shocked if he doesn’t win the defensive MVP award.
Particularly in this game I think it's going to be important for him to continue getting pressure in the backfield, and hopefully that will be able to slow down Michael Turner enough for the rest of the pursuit to catch up.
That being said, I’m pretty sure Matthews will have Turner, and half of the Falcons team on the ground by the time the rest of the defense gets there!
Conclusion and Prediction:
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If the Packers are able to do these five things, I think that they will have a very legitimate shot at winning this football game. Atlanta is a good team, but they are not unbeatable, and I think that the Packers have the right personnel to pull out the win!
Prediction: Green Bay: 27 Atlanta: 21
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