Aaron Rodgers & the Packers Remain Perfect, Beat the (0-4) Falcons 30-16

Oct 6

Green Bay, WI: The main Monday Night Football game served as a microcosm of how the 2020 season has gone for both the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers, as the Cheese heads won got an easy 30-16 win. The Falcons sputtered and struggled to get any sort of momentum going on offense, while their secondary suffered four major injury blows, mainly with their safeties. The Packers, on the other hand, were their usual dominant selves; the man known as A-Rod came out and looked like his 2011 MVP self, Aaron Jones demanded respect in every facet of the game, Robert Tonyan has officially broken out, and the Packers defense essentially neutralized the Falcons’ loaded offense.

Rodgers is the Quarterback Version of Frank Gore

As Jets running back Frank Gore is known as the ageless wonder (drafted by the 49ers in 2005, still playing at age 37), Aaron Rodgers might be vying to take that title. The 36-year-old signal-caller did everything a 36-year-old quarterback isn’t supposed to do; he was spry and fluid in the pocket, got yards with his feet on the rare occasion none of his receivers were open, and that arm; that rocket-powered catapult of an arm that Rodgers has on his right shoulder is still as powerful and sniper-accurate as it’s ever been. Rodgers completed 27/33 passes (82% completion) for 327 yards and four touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns went to break out 3rd-year tight end Robert Tonyan (6-98-3), who looked like George Kittle, according to the ESPN Broadcasting team (they weren’t wrong). Running back Aaron Jones collected 111 total yards from scrimmage off of 20 touches (15 carries, 5 catches), and scored his fifth total touchdown on the season. If he keeps this pace up, Jones could hit 20+ touchdowns for the second straight season, along with 2,036 total yards from scrimmage.

Over on defense, Linebacker Za’Darius Smith demanded the spotlight, and he was not denied. He abused Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews all night, notching three of Green Bay’s four sacks on the night, along with a tackle for loss against Todd Gurley II. Smith’s second sack on the night got the most attention, as afterward, he pulled his jersey up to show the words “Rest In Heaven, Breonna Taylor” printed on his undershirt, in tribute to the Louisville EMT worker that was fatally killed by police in her own home back in March of 2020.

First was Bill O’Brien. Is Dan Quinn next?

Prior to the start of both Monday night games, it was announced that Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was going to control offensive play-calling duties going forward into the season. An hour later, ESPN’s Dan Graziano & Adam Schefter broke the news that O’Brien was fired (go figure). It took four weeks and a miserable 0-4 start for O’Brien to lose his job. Now the question lingers across the league; who’s next?

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is now 24-28 in the regular season since his team blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. The man brought in back 2015 to fortify Atlanta’s defense now has the 13thranked defense in total offensive yards allowed, and 31stranked in yards allowed per game. They’ve allowed two back-to-back comeback-from -behind wins to the Cowboys in week 2 (15 point lead) and the Bears in week 3 (16 point lead), the first team in NFL history to do so. The offense has done their best to try and keep pace, with Matt Ryan and Co. averaging 419 total offensive yards per game (fourth in the NFL), but it just hasn’t been enough.

And entering Monday night, the Packers defense proved to be the straw that broke Atlanta’s back. Ryan’s stats seem pretty on paper (28/39 [72% completion percentage] for 285 yards), but they’re supplemented by garbage time plays that meant nothing to the game overall. Todd Gurley had an ok outing, getting 16 carries for 57 yards. But in the RedZone, he sparked life to Atlanta’s offense, scoring twice in goal-line situations. Rising star wideout Calvin Ridley was kept on an island against Packers corner Jaire Alexander, registering zero catches on five targets.

As for the Falcons D, it was pretty much non-existent. Coming into the contest, Atlanta was without starting safeties Ricardo Allen (Elbow) and Keanu Neal (hamstring). The Falcons came in with four active safeties, and half of them left with an injury; Damontae Kazee and Jaylinn Hawkins (My Pre-draft Interview with Jaylinn Here), both left the game with lower-body injuries and never came back. They gave up 403 total offensive yards to the offense, including nearly 100 receiving yards and three touchdowns to third-year tight end in Robert Tonyan out of Indiana State, who had two career touchdowns in the last 27 games he’s played.

“As far as an overall grade, it’s non-passing, it’s not above the bar,” Ryan said in his post-game presser. “It’s not where we need to be.”

What’s next:

Green Bay enters their Week 5 bye week at the right time, as it gives Rodgers an extra week to heal up the knee he hyperextended at the end of the game.

As for the Falcons, they’re set to host a Panther’s team that’s riding a two-game win streak, having just taken down Kyler Murray’s Arizona Cardinals 21-31 at home.

-By: Juan Guarin-Camargo