The offense took over, and what would have been a 21 yard completion to Harry Douglas was overturned after a Green Bay challenge. That lead to... another punt. Just like last week, the offense has disappeared since the start of the second half, and we've seen 22 unanswered points scored by the Packers since the second quarter. On the bright side, Matt Bosher's punt traveled 45 yards this time. Improvement!
But James Sanders and the defense stepped up in a big way. Sanders applied a monster hit on Jermichael Finley to force an incompletion on third-and-eleven and a Packers punt. On a drive where the Packers could've made it a two possession ball game, they managed to come through for the team. If Matt Ryan wants to show what he's made of, he'll answer with a score here.
Surprisingly, the offensive spark the Falcons needed came in the form of a penalty: unnecessary roughness called on AJ Hawk resulted in fifteen yards and a free first down. Then Matt Ryan went straight to work, completing three passes in a row to Eric Weems, Tony Gonzalez, and Roddy White. That was followed by an eight yard carry by Turner for a first down inside the Green Bay 30.
Everything seemed to pointing towards a Falcons score. But a pass that was a little high and tipped off the hands of a waiting Gonzalez found it's way to Charlie Peprah for an interception, thus killing the drive. That hurts.
The Falcons managed another first down sack, this time by Ray Edwards, but they gave up another long passing play on third down. A missed tackle by Dunta Robinson led to a 22-yard gain and pushed the Pack deep into Falcons territory. A 30-yard Mason Crosby field goal put the Packers up 25-14 and basically sealed it.
Besides reaffirming my desire to see Cris Collinsworth befall some sort of unfortunate accident for his biased and irritating commentating, I also learned that despite playing a great first half, the Falcons still have yet to show that they can play a complete game. Injuries undid the defense. Inability to run, Julio's injury and an unlucky tip-interception spelled out the offense's demise.
Green Bay's a great team, which makes this loss even more heartbreaking. The Falcons will fall to 2-3, leaving us to wonder what the rest of the season will hold for this team. Are the playoffs out of reach? Obviously not. But Atlanta still has to improve if they want a shot.