The Atlanta Falcons have been uncommonly tough in prime-time games in recent years, defeating Super Bowl contenders in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams last season to name a couple stunning recent upset wins.
It seems they managed to bring that magic with them on their flight to Green Bay this week, as they’ve done it again, this time against the Packers by a score of 35-14.
Here’s how they did in all three phases.
Offense
Atlanta’s offense got off to a pretty ugly start in Michael Penix Jr.’s return to the lineup for the first time this season. After completing a screen pass to Bijan Robinson that went for a nice gain, Penix missed Jahan Dotson on a deep ball and then threw a gruesome interception over the middle on a bad read to end his first drive.
The next time out Penix learned to give the ball to Bijan Robinson, who responded with a ridiculous 55-yard runto set up a touchdown of his own to get Atlanta on the scoreboard. Robinson kept on thrashing the Packers on the ground all night and wound up with a Madden-worthy stat-line of 213 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 31 touches.
That huge run by Robinson seemed to have a calming effect on Penix, who settled in thereafter and got into a very nice rhythm late in the second half. Penix continued to deal after the break, setting up an explosive connection with Drake London, who went off for a game-high 194 receiving yards on nine catches. Penix finished the game 18/25 for 256 yards, one TD, one INT and a 101.4 passer rating.
Defense
The Falcons defense continues to do admirable work even under the worst of circumstances, including consistently getting set up in short-field situations. They managed to stop the Packers from scoring after Penix’s opening drive pick, and everyone appears to have come ready to work - except for cornerback Mike Hughes, that is.
First, Hughes gave up a massive 45-yard catch to Matthew Golden, then later got lost in the end zone when he was supposed to be covering Christian Watson, who scored Green Bay’s first touchdown. Hughes was also flagged for a huge defensive pass interference penalty against Golden, all before the end of the first half. In the fourth quarter, Golden scored another touchdown with Hughes in coverage. On the other side C.J. Henderson was spectacular when he was matched up against Watson, though and he posted three pass breakups.
Against the run Atlanta was stout once again, shutting down Green Bay's league-worst ground attack and holding them to an anemic 17 yards on the ground on nine attempts. While the Falcons only got to Jordan Love for one sack (collected by Cameron Thomas), they were able to get to him for an outstanding 12 quarterback hits.
In the end, second-year safety Xavier Watts slammed the door shut by picking off Love's last pass.
Special teams
Atlanta was pretty sharp on special teams as well, highlighted by a blocked field goal by defensive lineman Zach Harrison. They also got some nice returns from rookie receiver Zachariah Branch and running back Brian Robinson Jr. Meanwhile, both Nick Folk and Jake Bailey did their jobs well with no mistakes. A complete victory all around.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Instant Analysis: Prime-TIme Falcons stun the Packers on TNF
