Game 3 - Falcons @ Packers - Thursday, Sep. 24th @ 7:15 PM

[HarryDoyle]

Short week so starting the game thread now. The Falcons are a bigger mess than we are. Who knows who will be the starting quarterback for them? Cooper Rush got pulled from the game today and the Atlanta faithful couldn't have been more thrilled as they roared their approval of his benching.

[adambr2]

5 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

Short week so starting the game thread now. The Falcons are a bigger mess than we are. Who knows who will be the starting quarterback for them? Cooper Rush got pulled from the game today and the Atlanta faithful couldn't have been more thrilled as they roared their approval of his benching.

I’ve heard Penix might be ready to go. 

[HarryDoyle]

Wow, you should be able to run at least three of these plays on accident.

[CheezWizHed]

I hate Thursday Football... just terrible for the players.  At least we get Atlanta at home.  

[Joseph Zarr]

So...how many penalties? How many penalty yards? How many rushing yards? Who do the Mensa candidates on the offensive staff start on the O-Line?

These questions are all I bring. 
 

[HarryDoyle]

It's official. Penix is starting for Atlanta.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Get ready for 4 TDs 300 yards and a 158.3 rating against our defense (again)

[Yaz]

Thanksgiving is the only time there should games on Thursday, period.  But that thing called money rules all.

[adambr2]

Penix is not a great quarterback but he is leaps and bounds better than Cooper Rush or Jack Strand. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

When you look at what the Falcons have at the skill positions on offense, it's tough to see how they can struggle to move the ball with anyone at quarterback - look for them to try and get Robinson the ball a ton.  I have a feeling the Packers are going to need to score over 30 to win this game - with their line and lack of discipline/tons of penalties that is a tall task against any defense.

Hoping the home game on a short week winds up giving the Packers enough of an advantage to wind up 2-1 against a team that's just as if not more disfunctional than they currently are.

[CheezWizHed]

42 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

When you look at what the Falcons have at the skill positions on offense, it's tough to see how they can struggle to move the ball with anyone at quarterback - look for them to try and get Robinson the ball a ton.  I have a feeling the Packers are going to need to score over 30 to win this game - with their line and lack of discipline/tons of penalties that is a tall task against any defense.

Hoping the home game on a short week winds up giving the Packers enough of an advantage to wind up 2-1 against a team that's just as if not more disfunctional than they currently are.

That seems like an odd contradiction... They lack playmakers and need to run the ball heavy, so you expect them to suddenly put up 27 points? If the Packers lose, it will probably be a grind it out, ball control game; 13-10.  I think if the Packers reach 20 points, I don't see how Atlanta will have a chance. 

OL protection was better this week, but the LG position was still a revolving door.  

[homer]

I think the Packers D is sneaky good even without Parsons. That side of the ball could be a force by the end of the year. Offense? I am not holding my breath that the line improves a ton. At best, they might be adequate.

[Joseph Zarr]

Run Game defense appears to be THE dominant feature of this Gannon D - Gannon has already proven, in a very short time I would opine, he has the makings of an elite D-Coordinator. Atlanta will likely try to do what others are doing: attack the perimeter. CB is still inexperienced (Cisse); highly inconsistent (Nixon) or can't tackle at all (Valentine). Pair that with what appears to now be a very average McKinney and therein lies how you formulate an attack plan vs the current Packers. Everything still falls at the feet of the offensive staff who continue to look lost in the weeds in nearly every facet of organizing and managing an efficient offense. People can say all they want about LaFleur and his offensive design. Currently, his unit is the weakest link on the team. Moreover, His offensive staff's leadership and his leadership, as a whole,  is mirrored in the team's penalty habit. What year are we in?

[Fear The Chorizo]

22 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

That seems like an odd contradiction... They lack playmakers and need to run the ball heavy, so you expect them to suddenly put up 27 points? If the Packers lose, it will probably be a grind it out, ball control game; 13-10.  I think if the Packers reach 20 points, I don't see how Atlanta will have a chance. 

OL protection was better this week, but the LG position was still a revolving door.  

What I was trying to say is just about any quarterback should be able to move the ball and score points with the Falcons' set of skill position players - part of that is I think Robinson is the best RB in the league.

Not saying Penix is going to light the world on fire, but he's much more likely to be competent getting the ball players who can wreck a game for a defense.  

We've got to remember that despite a good start in game this Packer D gave up 39 to a backup quarterback playing behind a shaky o-line of its own a few sundays ago.  And I hardly consider the Jets offense a quality test.  

[OldSchoolSnapper]

26 minutes ago, homer said:

I think the Packers D is sneaky good even without Parsons. That side of the ball could be a force by the end of the year. Offense? I am not holding my breath that the line improves a ton. At best, they might be adequate.

I kind of agree. It's not the issue with the team. It all goes back to the offensive line. They lack big playmakers on defense but they're not getting laughed out of the building anymore.

[Outlander]

Defense should be fine for this one and an easy Packers victory even with their issues.

[CheezWizHed]

1 hour ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

What I was trying to say is just about any quarterback should be able to move the ball and score points with the Falcons' set of skill position players - part of that is I think Robinson is the best RB in the league.

Not saying Penix is going to light the world on fire, but he's much more likely to be competent getting the ball players who can wreck a game for a defense.  

We've got to remember that despite a good start in game this Packer D gave up 39 to a backup quarterback playing behind a shaky o-line of its own a few sundays ago.  And I hardly consider the Jets offense a quality test.  

Ah... I misread your original comment.

But pointing to the Viking game as evidence that our defense sucks is a very poor example.  Offensive turnovers had more to do with that than the defense being bad.  

[JosephC]

Grabbing Za'Darius Smith was a great last-minute pickup for them.  He isn't what he once was, but without him the Falcons pass rush just doesn't look all that threatening.  Brandon Dorlus is an interior rusher to watch, although he's not at the point where he would scare me.  They have two great pass-catchers, but they have a glaring lack of depth at both the WR and TE spots.  Packers could just slant everything towards London, which should put a damper on the passing game.  Penix is entering year #3 and his progression makes me think he won't make it to an average NFL starting QB.  The things that concern me the most about the Packers is the O-line and CB, and the Falcons don't seem to have enough players to exploit the Packer's weaknesses.  Packers have injuries, but the Falcons could be missing a starting cornerback (Terrell) and nickel back (Bowman), and if that happens it makes the matchup look even more lopsided as the Packer's passing game is probably the strength of the team.

Bijon Robinson is the one guy that could get on a roll and they could run left, run right, run up the gut and break some big runs and control the game,   But NFL teams just don't want to run backs 30 times a game anymore.  Robinson averaged 16.9 carries per game last year, and if he ends up with 17 carries in this game, I just wouldn't be too concerned with that.

Packers are 6.5 point favorites and I would pick them to cover.  Falcons have to come north and will probably be playing 50 degree weather (Thursday forecasted high is 68 degrees, we'll see how much that temperature drops by game time),  It would be a huge disappointment if the Packers lose this game, I'm expecting a big effort.

[HarryDoyle]

Falcons CB A.J. Terrell put on IR with a shoulder injury. Huge loss for them.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I feel 100% certain the Packers have the worst offensive line in the league as of today.

[CheezWizHed]

3 hours ago, JosephC said:

Grabbing Za'Darius Smith was a great last-minute pickup for them.  He isn't what he once was, but without him the Falcons pass rush just doesn't look all that threatening. 

Great... Since we cut him, he always seemed to amp it up whenever he played the Packers...

[CheezWizHed]

I wonder if we see Golden play more slot receiver with Reed out?  Frankly, I'd prefer to see more Sturdivant on the field than Moore or Melton. 

[homer]

I am mildly concerned about Penix at QB. Not that I think he's good or anything but maybe has a chip on his injured shoulders and can perform like an athlete for a game before turning back into a pumpkin.

[JosephC]

Brandon Dorius has a thumb injury and will likely be listed as questionable.  Bowman will also be listed as questionable.  The injury report does list them as full practice participants on Tuesday, so I would expect to see both of them on the field.

Aaron Banks and Warren Brinson did not practice on Tuesday.  The Morgan/Jennings OR Burton/Rhyan/Monk/Belton line is the thing nightmares are made of.  In terms of average per year salary, Banks is still a top 10 paid guard.  The Packers need him to get back and AT LEAST be an ABOVE AVERAGE player.