It couldn’t have started better for Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense. Two drives, two touchdowns and a14-point lead over the Packers. The Georgia Dome was rocking.
It couldn’t have been much worse thereafter. Seven drives, no points and a 25-14 loss Sunday night in a stadium that began to empty in the fourth quarter.
What went so wrong?
“We had a good game plan and we came out and executed the first two drives,” Ryan said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that from that point on. We put ourselves in some tough positions to overcome. Getting off schedule on first and second down, some penalties and mental mistakes are disappointing and they are tough to overcome.”
Ryan was 8-for-10 for 80 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White, on the Falcons’ opening two possessions. They totaled 140 yards of offense. The time-consuming drives kept the potent Green Bay offense off the field. In the first quarter the Packers had but one drive that lasted 4:44 and ended in a fumble.
On the remaining seven drives, not counting the one-play kneel down to end the first half, the Falcons totaled just 111 yards of offense. Ryan was 10-for-22 for 87 yards. The Falcons had five punts, four came after just three plays, and two interceptions the remainder of the game.
“Nothing we tried in the second half worked very well at all,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
As Smith noted in his post-game press conference, the Falcons had a first down on their opening drive on the third quarter. Their next first down didn’t come until the fourth quarter, on an unnecessary roughness call on the Packers’ A.J. Hawk.
“We couldn’t convert first downs,” Smith said. “… You’ve got to be more efficient, more effective moving the football especially against a football team like the Green Bay Packers that has such a potent offense.”
Keeping the Packers off the field was the script. And it was working early.
“It was clear they wanted to limit the possessions in the game and let their offense run the clock down,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
Penalties were an issue for the Falcons offense.
In the second quarter, leading 14-3, offensive lineman Tyson Clabo was called for holding which negated a 47-yard completion to Harry Douglas. Clabo was called for illegal use of the hands that stalled the first drive of the second half. Julio Jones was called on an illegal formation penalty on the first play on the next drive. An unsportsmanlike conduct call on White halted the third drive.
With the Falcons offense not able to sustain drives and keep possession of the football, the Packers reeled of 25 straight points.
“I think we certainly contributed to that,” Ryan said of the offensive woes. “Not being on the field and scoring points in the second half, really after the first two drives we didn’t score. When you are playing against a very good football team, that’s not going to help you win.”
In addition to the penalties, Smith insisted the Falcons failures were a matter of execution. He bristled at the notion that the play-calling was an issue for the decline in production.
“It’s my responsibility that the plays that are going in give our players the best opportunity to succeed and I’ll take full responsibility for that,” Smith said. “No one else.”
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