Falcons’ furious rally comes up short against Packers

The Falcons dug themselves too big of a hole and couldn’t climb out of it against the high-flying Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

The Packers were all business in their quest to earn the number one seed in NFC. While the Falcons, who had a chance to open some room in the putrid NFC South, rallied but were defeated 43-37 before 77,512 fans at Lambeau Field.

“I felt that it was two halves of a football game,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “The first half, we didn’t play as nearly as consistent or as well we needed to. I thought we did a good job in the second half of the ball game. To come back from deficit that we had.”

The Packers improved to 10-3. The Falcons dropped to 5-8, but remain in a first-place tie with the New Orleans Saints (5-8) in the NFC South with three games to play. The Falcons own the tiebreaker over the Saints by virtue of their season-opening 37-34 overtime victory.

“We fought,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “I just wish we could have had a different outcome.”

The Falcons wasted a historic performance by wide receiver Julio Jones, who caught 11 passes for a franchise-record 259 yards and one touchdown. He left the game with a hip injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t return.

“Julio is dominant force that we all knew he would be,” Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas said. “He’s showing y’all why we took so high in the draft.”

The Falcons didn’t update his injury status after the game as coach Mike Smith said he hadn’t talked to the team doctors.

“I’ve got 100 percent faith in Julio,” Douglas said. “He’s a gamer. He’s a baller.”

The Packers jumped all over the Falcons as they scored on all five of their first-half possessions to take a 31-7 halftime lead. The Packers scored 23 points on more in the first half of six straight home games in the same season, which set a new NFL record.

“We didn’t execute there in the first half,” Smith said. “There were a number of plays not only on offense, but on defense. We really had a hard time slowing them down in the first half. That’s a very good football team. They have the best record in the NFL.”

The Falcons’ inability to stop the run was key to the defeat. The Packers ran the ball early and were able to run out the clock late.

“We didn’t tackle well,” Smith said. “ But they fought extremely hard.”

When the Falcons tried to creep back into the game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers struck back with a 60-yard touchdown bomb to wide receiver Jordy Nelson in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons wouldn’t go away and added a yard touchdown pass to Roddy White to make it 40-30, but the the two-point conversion attempt failed and the ensuing onsides kick was unsuccessful.

The Packers added a field goal, but the Falcons wouldn’t go away.

Ryan tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Harry Douglas to make it 43-37 with 2:11 left in the game. Nelson recovered the onsides kick and the Packers were able to run out the clock.

The Falcons opened strong on offense, but couldn’t rebound after digging such a deep hole.

Led by running back Eddie Lacy and Rodgers, the Packers came out and pressed the Falcons’ helmets to the frozen tundra and didn’t let them up as Rodgers shredded the defense for nearly 300 yards in the first half.

The Packers opened with a crisp seven-play, 81-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by running back John Starks.

The Falcons answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by running back Steven Jackson to cap a nine-play, 72-yard drive.

On the Packers next drive, the Falcons’ defense had the Packers backed up against the wall. But they let them off the hook on third down-and-17 from the Green Bay 13-yard line. Rodgers found tight end Andrew Quarless open in the middle of the Falcons’ zone defense for a 30-yard gain.

Quarless’ reception was the big play in the Packers’ grueling 13-play, 80 yard touchdown drive. Lacy finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The Falcons couldn’t answer. On third down-and-1, Ryan appeared to call an audible at the line of scrimmage and tossed an incomplete pass in the direction of tight end Levine Toilolo.

The Packers added a 38-yard field goal by Mason Crosby to make it 17-7.

The Falcons started to come unglued on offense as Ryan was intercepted by Packers safety Morgan Burnett, a former Georgia Tech and North Clayton High standout. Burnett returned the interception 32 yards to the Falcons’ 15-yard line.

Four plays later, Rodgers tossed a yard touchdown pass to Lacy.