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In a match-up of two NFC division leaders, the 5-7 Atlanta Falcons, who lead the putrid NFC South by a half-game over the 5-8 New Orleans Saints, visit Green Bay to take on the 9-3 Packers on Monday Night Football.
The Packers have won eight of their last nine games, and are currently in contention for their 4th consecutive NFC North Division Championship, which would be a franchise record, as well as the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed, looking to keep pace with the Arizona Cardinals who defeated Kansas City on Sunday, improving their record to 10-3. Luckily, the Falcons helped the Packers a bit last week when they defeated the Cardinals 29-18.
The Falcons have legitimately backed their way into leading what may be the worst single division in NFL history — especially due to the parity in today’s NFL — and are the heavy underdogs in this game.
#Packers vs. #Falcons: Our Elo ratings give Green Bay an 80% edge tonight. http://t.co/RTwcDoVJvW http://t.co/VVwaCOcrLq
The Basics
Who:
Falcons vs. Packers
When:
December 8. 2014, 8:30 p.m.
Channel:
ESPN
Where:
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Line:
Packers by 13
Last Meeting:
Packers 22, Falcons 21 on December 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia
Packers Look to Continue to Roll While Falcons Desperately Need a Win
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Aaron Rodgers still leads the MVP voting, and he’s been masterful this season by completing nearly two-thirds (66.3%) of his passes for 3,325 yards, throwing for 32 touchdowns to just THREE interceptions — almost an 11:1 TD-to-INT ratio. Rodgers has 20 touchdowns and NO interceptions at Lambeau Field this season.
If Aaron Rodgers throws for 293 yards tonight, he’ll have more passing yards than any player in NFL history in their first 100 career starts
While Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and a majority of the offense outside of Roddy White, because of injury, have had purely good statistical seasons, the stats are hollow because of the Falcons inept play outside the NFC South and the blown-games, which could have resulted in a few extra wins — and a much more respectable overall record.
Falcons head coach Mike Smith understands just how much of a challenge this is going to be:
“It’s a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers. No doubt, he’s playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now. He’s got a number of weapons he can get it to. He’s played extremely well at home. I don’t think he’s thrown an interception at home this season, and I don’t even want to talk about how many points they’ve scored.”
The Falcons need to find some way to pull off a monumental upset because their next two games are at home against Pittsburgh and then on the road in New Orleans. It seems likely that the December 21 game in the Superdome will be for the NFC South crown, and each team’s 6th win this season. That is, unless Carolina wins out.
Heavy’s Pick
Packers 38, Falcons 17
The Packers are simply a more complete team at this point, and in order for the Falcons to have an opportunity to win this game, they would need the Packers to lose the turnover battle. The Falcons simply don’t have the talent on defense to get those stops and turnovers, let alone do the Packers offensive stars actually turn it over.
Rodgers throws for 300 yards easily and Matt Ryan’s performance falls somewhere between Jay Cutler and Tom Brady at Lambeau this season. the Falcons will remain in the game until late in the 1st half then the Packers will hit the gas pedal and eventually win going away.
