AJC > Sports > Falcons > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October > 03
Friday, October 3, 2008
Falcons face ghosts of Lambeau Field
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For most of the 1990s, I covered the Green Bay Packers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with colleagues Bob McGinn and Tom Silverstein.
The memories still flow. Saw Sterling Sharpe’s last game when he inexplicably went to the field at old Milwaukee County Stadium with a career-ending neck injury.
Was at training camp as Ron Wolf trotted through a parade of NFL quarterbacks, of course Brett Favre, Mark Brunell, Ty Detmer, Aaron Brooks and even a young Kurt Warner. Met all of the assistants - Andy Reid, Steve Mariucci, Jon Gruden, Ray Rhodes and Mike McCarthy - before they become head coaches. My favorite was offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis, he’d diagram West Coast offense plays for me and tell me how they worked or were supposed to work.
Got to see Reggie White toss around linemen at practice when Mike Holmgren wasn’t mad at the media and kicked us out of practice. I think that’s why I still migrate to the one-on-one lineman drills at Falcons practice.
Got to cover the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in New Orleans and the still stunning Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos in San Diego.
So this isn’t a football pilgrimage for me. I’m just glad it’s not December. My challenge will be not to eat too many brats in the press box.
But for a young Falcons team that’s looked shaky on the road, this is a pilgrimage to one of the great football Meccas in the nation. The truth is, despite all of the Packer injuries, the Falcons may not be ready to pull off this road win.
They might be taken aback by coming through the tunnel and looking up to see the names of all the Packer greats — Lombardi, Starr, Taylor, Davis, Wood, Lofton, White, Hornung and Nitschke - on the stadium façade.
Whether if the Falcons win or not, I suspect the fans of the Packers, perhaps the most knowledgeable group in the league, are going to like the Falcons style of play. The Falcons have played hard, mean and nasty under Mike Smith. The Packers’ fans will respect that.
A rookie quarterback in Lambeau Field doesn’t equal success. Michael Turner must run the ball with authority and hope the Falcons can deploy their “Shock and Awe” strategy on the road. Against Detroit and Kansas City they jumped out to big leads of 21 and 24 points to shock their opponents and put the local crowds in awe of the young team.
Now, if they can do that in Green Bay, the original Titletown, U.S.A., they may wake up some of the ghosts of Lambeau Field.
What do you, think about the game? Do the Falcons have a shot? Can they put some licks on Aaron Rodgers if he plays? How’s the secondary going to shut down Greg Jennings and Donald Driver after last week?
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