After defeating the Buffalo Bills last week in Toronto, the Falcons looked to get their second consecutive win against the Green Bay Packers at a snow-filled Lambeau Field on Sunday.
It looked as if that was going to happen after taking a two-score lead into halftime. But the Packers rallied in the second half to come away with the 22-21 win.
The Falcons had issues containing the Green Bay offense in the first quarter. The Packers orchestrated an 18-play drive that took nine minutes off the clock. The drive ended at the end at the first quarter when Eddie Lacy scored on a 1-yard run.
But the second quarter was all Falcons as they outscored the Packers 21-3. The first score came right after the Packers touchdown drive when Matt Ryan threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Drew Davis. The second touchdown drive came after the Falcons defensive turnover as William Moore sacked Matt Flynn on the ensuing series, which led to a fumble and recovered by Malliciah Goodman. That led to a Ryan 2-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez.
The third and final scoring drive came late in the second quarter when Flynn’s pass was intercepted by Sean Weatherspoon and returned for a 71-yard touchdown. Weatherspoon was able to pick off the pass when the ball hit Paul Worrilow’s foot and fell right into his hands.
The second half was all Packers. They cut the 11-point lead to eight early in the third when Mason Crosby kicked a 33-yard field goal. He kicked another field goal of 25 yards midway through the third to cut the lead to five.
The Falcons had possession to start the fourth quarter, but lost it quickly when Ryan fumbled and recovered by Johnny Jolly. That led to a Flynn 2-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless to give the Packers the one-point lead.
The Falcons had three chances to take the lead and possibly win in the fourth quarter. The first came after the Packers last scoring series when Matt Bryant missed a 52-yard field goal. The second came late in the fourth when the Falcons had the ball at the Packers 33 yard line. Instead of kicking the field goal, the Falcons went for it on fourth down. Ryan found an open Gonzalez but dropped the ball as he was falling to the ground.
After the Falcons defense forced the Packers to go three-and-out, they got the ball back with less than a minute left. The Falcons got to their 43-yard line after starting at their own 9. Two plays later, Ryan found an open Harry Douglas at the Packers 37 yard line, but dropped the pass before he could go out-of-bounds. Ryan looked for Douglas again on the next play, but his pass was picked off by Jarrett Bush to end the game.
Ryan finished the day 20-of-35 with 202 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. This was the first time in his career he threw for over 200 yards against Green Bay. Steven Jackson was effective on the ground, rushing for 71 yards on 15 carries and Roddy White caught eight passes for 74 yards. What did the Falcons was the receivers dropped five passes and they could not sustain drives in the second half as they scored zero points.
The Falcons drop to 3-10 for the year. They will be back in action next Sunday when they face the Washington Redskins at the Georgia Dome.
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