Good news: Weather permitting, the roof will be open when the Falcons face the Green Bay Packers at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the plush $1.5 billion football cathedral, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Bad news: The defense that the Falcons shredded 44-21 in the NFC Championship game to earn the franchise’s second trip to the Super Bowl is not coming.
The unit has been retooled with five new starters and is coming off a downright nasty performance, where they held Seattle to three field goals and 225 yards in a season-opening 17-9 victory.
"It was one of the Packers' most impressive overall defensive efforts in the (Mike) McCarthy era," wrote Bob McGinn, a longtime journalist covering the Packers, for bobmcginnfootball.com.
The ringleader against Seattle was defensive tackle Mike Daniels, who had some strong support from defensive tackle Kenny Clark, left outside linebacker Nick Perry and safety/linebacker Morgan Burnett, a former Georgia Tech standout from North Clayton High.
Daniels and Clark dominated Seattle’s interior offensive line of right guard Mark Glowinski, left guard Luke Joeckel and center Justin Britt as the Packers played only a few snaps in their base-4 alignment.
Daniels, who camped out in Seattle’s backfield, had seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, four quarterback hits, a tackle for a loss and a forced fumble.
Falcons center Alex Mack and left guard Andy Levitre are much better than Seattle’s linemen, but rookie right guard Wes Schweitzer is coming off a tough NFL debut against Chicago’s Akiem Hicks.
“It’s another really stout front, and just to name a few guys, like Mike Daniels and Nick Perry, who were active in the (Seattle) game,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
The Packers held Seattle running backs to 53 yards rushing on 15 carries (a sub-standard 3.5 yards per carry). The Falcons will be challenged to get the running game going against Daniels, who’s 6-foot and 310 pounds and Clark, who’s 6-3 and 314 pounds.
“For us, our play-action goes hand-in-hand with our run game,” Quinn said. “When that part of our game comes alive even better, we think the run game will as well. Those are two things, and we’re going to study it hard and really assess where we’re at. We weren’t happy with the movement that we got in the run game (against Chicago). We have another good challenge with (the Packers) in the run game.”
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan will track linebacker Nick Perry closely.
“Of his 42 snaps, 37 were on the right outside, three standing up on third-and-longs and two on the left outside,” McGinn said. “On the right side, Perry was just too strong for new (Seattle left tackle) Rees Odhiambo, an athletic fill-in for injured George Fant (torn ACL).”
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews was stout against the Bears, as he didn’t allow any quarterback pressure.
The Packers used Burnett as a linebacker in the nickel package, and he held Seattle tight end Jimmy Graham to three catches and eight yards.
The Packers clearly have tried to improve their defense to go with spectacular quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his array of offensive weaponry.
Running back Ty Montgomery, wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson are tough players to defend. The Packers also added tight end Martellus Bennett in free agency.
Montgomery rushed for 54 yards and caught four passes for 39 yards against Seattle,and Cobb caught nine of 13 targets for 85 yards to lead the Packers in receiving.
The Falcons will be on alert for Rodgers scrambles when he extends plays and for when he tries to take shots and cash in on free plays with his cadence. He had four free shots against Seattle.
“He’s fantastic on the move with the way he can improvise and get out of the pocket,” Quinn said. “When you can extend plays, that makes it difficult because now the coverage definitely turns in.”
When he gets loose, the Falcons may have to jump out of a zone coverage and convert to man on the fly.
“We use the term ‘plaster’ when a quarterback breaks contain,” Quinn said. “He can also run for some first downs when he needs to. They have a really unique style that they play.”
Bennett caught three of six targets for 43 yards against Seattle as the Packers moved him around in different formations.
“He’s a good match-up guy,” Quinn said.
The Falcons attack Rodgers in the NFC title game and had two sacks and eight quarterback hits. The Falcons had four sacks and 10 quarterback hits against the immobile Chicago quarterback Mike Glennon.
“We know their style well, and it’s a hell of a matchup for us,” Quinn said. “You’d better have your rushers really come in digging because he’s going to move out of the pocket some. Those are the ones you’ve got to keep battling and finishing on. That’s really what it comes down to.”
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