S.O.S. -- Sparks On Sports Sports First-time trip to legendary Lambeau Field spoiled by Packer loss to Atlanta Falcons 27-24

by Troy A. Sparks sparkstroy@sbcglobal.net

Milwaukee Brewer Pitcher C. C. Sabathia pounds fists with his teammates before the start of the Brewers first home playoff game in 26 years at Miller Park. The Brewers won game three from the Philadelphia Phillies before losing game four of the best of five Division Series and the series. (Harry Kemp photo)

Lambeau Field. You have to say it slow. LAM---BOW Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin. It’s truly the shrine of professional football. The numbers of Don Hutson, Tony Canadeo, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke and Reggie White hang below the north end zone scoreboard. Seventy thousand, six hundred and sixteen watched the game. It was the 272nd straight sellout. Thousands more listened on the radio or watched it on television. People in the parking lot tailgated. There were parties in yards of nearby homes.

Since the Brewers won Saturday to force a fourth game against the Philadelphia Phillies, I had a decision to make: Go to Lambeau Field or Miller Park. I came to Lambeau. From seven floors up in the Lee Remmel Press Box, I had a bird’s eye view. The view from Section D, Row 1, Seat 7 was priceless. If you gave me $500 to trade places, I wouldn’t do it.

Even though I marveled at the Lambeau environment outside and inside the stadium, before and after the game, I was there to cover the Packers and Atlanta Falcons.

The Packers were on a two-game skid with losses to Dallas and Tampa Bay. They were 2-2 before Sunday’s game. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers hurt his shoulder in Tampa last week. He was in the starting lineup.

“This morning ... I didn’t know what to think to be honest,” Rodgers said. “I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be able to make the throws to prove to (Packer coach) Mike (McCarthy) and Dr. (Patrick) McKenzie that I was gonna be able to play.”

Rodgers decided around 8:30 Sunday morning to give it a try and convince McCarthy to let him play.

“We had a workout (Sunday) morning in the Hutson Center at 8:45,” McCarthy said. “After we worked out, we (himself and Rodgers) had a discussion. I was comfortable. I decided to let him play.”

The Falcons featured quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael “The Burner” Turner. Atlanta’s last trip to Green Bay was in the 2002 playoffs when Michael Vick beat them. The Falcons won the toss and took the ball first. They scored on a 10-play, 81-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. Tight end Justin Peelle caught the 1-yard touchdown pass. They got a 42-yard field goal from placekicker Jason Elam to take a 10-0 lead. And that’s where it stood after one quarter of play.

“I thought (Ryan) had a good game,” McCarthy said. “I thought they did a good job, particularly on first down. He managed the game well.”

The Packers answered in the second quarter with an eight-play, 87-yard drive. Receiver Donald Driver caught a 44-yard TD pass from Rodgers in double coverage from Atlanta cornerback Brent Grimes and safety Erik Coleman. It was 10-7, Atlanta.

The Falcons went 90-yards in nine plays, scoring on a 22-yard TD pass from Ryan to receiver Roddy White. It gave Atlanta a 10-point lead at 17-7. White had eight receptions for 132 first half yards. The Falcons took the 10-point lead into the locker room.

“They (Green Bay) were playing man coverage, and it was just a go route,” White said. “Matt told me that if I had one-on-one out there that he would throw me the ball. And that’s exactly what he did.”

“They (Atlanta) pretty much stuck to their game plan and did what we expected,” linebacker A.J. Hawk said. “When you give up that many rushing yards (176), it’s hard to win a game. We just didn’t stop them when we had to today.”

In the third quarter, the Packers used 6 minutes, 35 seconds to score on a 50-yard field goal by placekicker Mason Crosby to cut the deficit to 17-10.

The Falcons pinned the Packers deep in their red zone after drawing a defensive penalty. Ryan tried to hit tight end Ben Harstock in the end zone in the fourth quarter. It was intercepted by Green Bay’s Tramon Williams with 12:23 left in the game.

“You know, a great player like Al (Harris) goes down, you see Tramon come in and have a, you know, a game-changing interception at a huge time when we need it,” Hawk said.

It took four plays for the Packers to score again. Rodgers threw his second of three TD passes, hitting receiver Greg Jennings for 25 yards to tie the game at 17 apiece. The Falcons scored 10 straight points in a span of 3:47. Elam kicked a go-ahead field goal from 41 yards. Turner ran two yards for a TD with 3:35 left in the game. Their three-play drive came from a Rodgers interception. Atlanta held a 27-17 lead.

The Packers went into their 2-minute offense, running eight plays in 1:39. Tight end Donald Lee caught a 4-yard TD pass, but Green Bay still trailed by three. The Falcons held on for a 27-24 win. The Packers outgained the Falcons in total yardage, 408-370. They held the ball for 31:17 to Atlanta’s 28:43. Both teams ran 62 plays.

“Well, we’re 2-3 right now,” McCarthy said. “We’ve got to clean up tomorrow (Monday) as we head into Seattle. We need to do a better job of demanding as a staff to get it done the right way from the players.

“Our house is messy right now and nobody is happy about it. We’ll continue to work. We’re 2-3, and we’ll get it cleaned up tomorrow as we head into Seattle.”

Added Driver: “There’s no need to panic right now, you know what I mean? We’re 2-3. We have to deal with it. And the next thing you know, we still got a lot more games to play. So, we can (go on and get) on an 11-game winning streak. It would be nice."