Murphy’s Law: Why the Green Bay Packers lost to the Atlanta Falcons
By Kenn Korb
Too Many Bad Breaks
Despite how obvious some matchups seem to be on a weekly basis in the NFL, each and every game in some way/shape/form ultimately comes down to which way the different breaks lean in a contest.
With the Packers coming in as the less-talented team (it’s true, even if we may not want to admit it), they would likely have needed a clear edge in plays breaking their way to force an upset.
Instead, we saw the Falcons have an undeniable advantage in those sort of situations.
To be fair, there were a few decent breaks right away for the Packers, and despite the early deficit through the first three drives I saw at least four actions work in Green Bay’s favor compared to one for Atlanta.
Gabriel dropped a wide-open catch for a first down; not long after, Julio had a tough drop, too. Rodgers somehow avoided an expected Deion Jones sack on a third down incompletion before a field goal attempt (that miss by Crosby was Atlanta’s positive break in this streak).
To end this run, Atlanta held on a 3rd and goal (also saw Julio drop the pass anyway).
After that stretch Atlanta was up 10-0 anyway, but things were still close and it was far too early for things to be over.
If the different breaks had continued to weigh in the Packers’ favor, maybe they make a game of things. Unfortunately, the breaks flipped entirely.
Green Bay was driving for a likely touchdown when Ripkowski lost the ball on a fumble (not only that, but a possible downing at the Atlanta 1 or even a safety, it becomes a touchback).
Gabriel ends up not ready for a direct snap while he motions across the formation and fumbles, but Green Bay isn’t able to pick it up. Rodgers is sacked on a foot slap.
Ryan barely eludes a sack, then sees an almost-certain INT turn into an incompletion after Marwin Evans of Green Bay mistimed his jump. Gunter nearly intercepts Ryan in the endzone soon after, but can’t come down with the ball; Atlanta goes on to score another touchdown afterwards.
Cook drops it on third down to cut short Green Bay’s next drive, then we see Julio make that amazing end-over-end catch while being flipped. Ryan fumbles a snap on that drive, but recovers it; yet another Atlanta touchdown ensues.
This all happened before Green Bay got another notable break in their favor (Rodgers having a second INT overturned on Green Bay’s 7th drive).
During that run of plays, Atlanta added three touchdowns while giving up just one to leave them with a dominant 31-7 advantage.
Things were more even from there – each team saw about four breaks go their way – and showed us an idea of what could have been: in that stretch, Green Bay actually led 14-13 to end the game at 44-21.
That long stretch where Atlanta had everything break in their favor effectively demolished any chance these Packers had at trying to win.
Next: The Packers' need for speed
Because of that, another long offseason has begun, full of questions and frustrations for the team and their fans.