Packers pull out big win against Falcons, go to 2-7

ATLANTA — Even a healthy and playoff-bound Green Bay Packers team would have needed a superb performance to beat Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons in their Georgia Dome.
So to topple the Falcons and the game’s most electric player by winning 33-25 on Sunday must go down as a special effort in what has been a deeply disappointing and disheartening season for Packers coach Mike Sherman and his team.

“It just feels good to win,” right tackle Mark Tauscher said. “It’s been so long and so mentally draining this season. This win is the start of our second season. Can’t do anything about the beginning, but now we can do something about this.”

The win doesn’t do much for the Packers in the standings, where at 2-7 their playoff hopes remain a pipe dream. Everyone else in the NFC North Division won Sunday, the first time all four of its teams have won on the same weekend since the NFL realigned its divisions in 2002.
But the win boosts the Packers’ spirits.

They have several people they especially can thank, beginning with defensive coordinator Jim Bates and middle linebacker Nick Barnett, both of whom played crucial roles in keeping Vick from breaking their back.

The Packers also got top-notch performances from:

• Quarterback Brett Favre, who was 26-of-39 passing.
• Wide receiver Donald Driver, who had 10 receptions.
• Kicker Ryan Longwell, who had two clutch field goals of 50-plus yards.
• And new halfback Samkon Gado, who had as good a day as the Packers dared hope for, finishing with 103 yards rushing and scoring three touchdowns.

“We haven’t given up at 1265 Lombardi,” Driver said. “People have given up on us, but we haven’t given up.”

The key was the ability of Bates’ defense to keep Vick from running wild and forcing three turnovers, two of which the Packers turned into 14 points.

Vick is unique to the NFL with his ability to run like the league’s best halfbacks, plus a strong but erratic throwing arm. In two previous games against the Packers, both in 2002, he proved impossible to corral for a full day and rushed for a combined 136 yards in 19 carries, including leading a playoff blowout win at Lambeau Field.

“This is a different type team with Vick,” Bates said, “different than anything we see. It took a lot of work.”

Bates’ game plan was much different than anything he’d done all season. He’s not a big blitzer, but he dogged Vick more than he has any other quarterback. To keep Vick’s scrambling under control, he relied on pass coverages that he’s deployed only occasionally.

On some plays, there was a designated defensive lineman, linebacker or defensive back mirroring Vick. On others, the coverages dictated that several players be especially aware of the quarterback when he dropped back to pass.

Vick had his moments, but his passer rating of 108.9 points was deceptively high and padded by a late fourth-quarter desperation drive, when the Falcons trailed by 16 and the Packers were conceding passes over the middle to keep the clock running.

Vick didn’t throw any interceptions, but he fumbled three times — the Packers recovered one of them — and was sacked three times.

Barnett might have had the best day of his three-year career with a team-high seven tackles, a sack and two fumbles recovered. Defensive lineman Kenny Peterson forced Vick’s only turnover with a strip tackle from behind at the end of a 5-yard scramble.

Most importantly, the Packers kept Vick from making any game-changing plays. He rushed for only 24 yards on seven carries, with a long run of 7 yards. Atlanta converted only four of 11 third downs, meaning Vick wasn’t keeping drives alive with scrambles.

The Packers’ defense also made two decisive plays by forcing and recovering two other fumbles that turned into 14 easy points. Defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila stripped halfback Warrick Dunn in the first quarter, and cornerback Ahmad Carroll did the same to receiver Roddy White in the fourth quarter.

“The plan all week long was to employ a defense where the defensive backs and defensive linemen would do a good job keeping (Vick) in their sights, being aware of him on the scramble,” said Mark Duffner, the Packers’ linebackers coach. “Our players really worked hard during the week with that concept in mind.”

But all the game planning in the world would have gone for naught if the Packers hadn’t found a way to move the ball with the makeshift receiving and running corps they’ll be using for the rest of the season.

Though every defense knows Favre is looking for Driver, the Packers’ lone starting-caliber receiver still found enough seams in Atlanta defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s scheme to catch 10 passes for 114 yards.

The Falcons kept Driver from making any plays downfield, but he had several big catches, including one on which he whirled and fought for 8 extra yards on a tone-setting drive at the start of the second half. It led to a short Packers field goal and 20-14 lead.

“They were joking on the sidelines, saying Donald has a kickstand,” Favre said. “He doesn’t go down. Guys grab him and he puts his kickstand down and pops out the other side. The guy’s a tremendous athlete, very determined.”

Gado was the day’s biggest surprise. He avoided disaster when teammates Vonta Leach and Andrae Thurman recovered his two fumbles, and his hard running gave the Packers a ground game Atlanta had to honor.

But Favre played the major role with another sharp performance. Despite failing to gash the Falcons with a big play — his longest completion was 21 yards — he kept grinding out long drives that led to points and, as importantly, kept Vick off the field.

Favre’s passer rating was relatively pedestrian at 82.4 points, but he shrugged off potential sacks, threw hard and sharp, and converted four third downs through the air.

“How many times have we seen him make those plays like he did on third down?” said Jim Mora Jr., the Falcons’ coach. “He just eludes someone’s grasp and however he gets it there, he gets it done. That’s one of the reasons why he’s going to the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so.”
source : http://www.packersnews.com/