The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line was collapsed several times by the Detroit Lions for the rest of the nation to see Thanksgiving Day.
The Lions made it a miserable day for Green Bay quarterback Matt Flynn, with seven sacks and 10 quarterback hits. The Falcons hope that defensive end Osi Umenyiora can incite a similar riot against the Packers.
Umenyiora, who leads the Falcons with 6.5 sacks (all in losses), is on the hot seat for this game.
“We need to apply pressure on the quarterback,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We had no sacks in the ballgame against Buffalo. We had some opportunities, but we weren’t able to finish it.”
The Falcons need Umenyiora to make an impact.
“It’s imperative that you get some pressure on the quarterback,” Smith said. “It’s not necessarily about sacks. It’s about putting pressure. Osi is guy that has experience of rushing the passer.”
The Falcons would like to see Umenyiora get rolling against the Packers’ shaky line.
“I think they can feed off of it,” Smith said. “The energy from when something positive happens, creates more positive energy. We need to be more effective rushing the passer.”
The Falcons have one other sack from a defensive end, Jonathan Masssquoi.
Defensive tackle Peria Jerry and linebacker Joplo Bartu are tied for second on the team with 3.5 sacks. Defensive tackle Corey Peters has three sacks.
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