Packers 48, Falcons 21: Aaron Rodgers Dominant In Green Bay’s Road Rout

One might assume that a 48-21 loss at home in the playoffs against the conference’s sixth seed would be a reason to stop rooting for a team. But if you listen to SB Nation Atlanta’s Jason Kirk, the Falcons falling by that margin last night against the Packers actually created new Falcons fans — or, at least, clarified what it is to be a Falcons fan:

There wasn’t much more Aaron Rodgers could’ve done in the Green Bay Packers 48-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night. With his offensive line giving him all day in the pocket, Rodgers picked apart the Falcons’ secondary, completing 31 passes to seven different receivers.

When all was said and done, Rodgers threw for 366 yards and three touchdowns while also adding another score on the ground. He never turned the ball over and only missed on five passes while calmly guiding the Packers down the field time and again. With Rodgers at the helm, the Green Bay offense looked unstoppable.

Matt Ryan was 20-of-29 for 186 yards and a touchdown for Atlanta, but most of those stats were padded with a late-game spark. When it really mattered, Ryan threw two interceptions, one of them a mistake in placing the ball and the other a mistake in throwing it in the first place. The quarterback who had earned the nickname “Matty Ice” while winning 90 percent of his home games seemed to melt when the lights got too bright.

Packers fans can celebrate and get ready for the conference championship game with Acme Packing Company. Falcons fans can chew over the end of the season at The Falcoholic.

But there’s very little reason at this point to think that Atlanta can pull off what would be an amazing comeback even if the defense had shown much of an ability to stop Green Bay.

Rodgers has thrown twice for 13 yards and a touchdown, but that’s not the most impressive part of his running ability. Rodgers has largely avoided Atlanta’s pass rush when the Falcons seem close to shutting him down, and that ability to extend the play has consistently led to long completions that have kept drives alive.

The Falcons, generally a disciplined team during the season, have already committed five penalties for 22 yards. So far tonight, the extra downs have been hurting them more than the yardage.

As for the Atlanta secondary … The Falcons committed two pass-defense fouls in the red zone on the drive, one a pretty blatant pass interference penalty on Chris Owens on the goal line. With the success that Green Bay is already having on offense, the Falcons really don’t need to help them out.

Early this week, when we looked at the odds for tonight’s Packers-Falcons tilt, it seemed that the Falcons were favored by anywhere from 1 to 2.5 points at home in the Georgia Dome. That’s changed, and the NFL playoff game already predicted to be the closest of this divisional round looks even closer now.

Check the current odds for Packers vs. Falcons in Atlanta, and it’s hard to find the Falcons favored by more than a single point. Could this be a case of Las Vegas liking Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ resurgent running game enough to make the spread more or less irrelevant for tonight’s NFC divisional round? Possibly.

When he retires, there’s no doubt that Tony Gonzalez will be lauded as one of the best tight ends in NFL history. But there’s a line on his resume that remains blank, because Gonzalez has yet to enjoy a victory in the NFL playoffs.

Today, Gonzalez and the Falcons will aim for that first win in their divisional round game against the Packers — and there might be some Chiefs fans cheering along, like the folks at SB Nation’s Chiefs blog, Arrowhead Pride:

One of the keys to stopping the Packers is shutting down Aaron Rodgers and the passing game, or at least slowing it down. Our Falcons blog, The Falcoholic, thinks that the guy who can do that in their divisional round NFL playoffs game might be athletic cornerback Brent Grimes.

The Green Bay Packers have a knack for keeping their games close, especially this year when their biggest loss of the year came by just four points. Their two four point losses this year came when Aaron Rodgers was out with a concussion.

How Rodgers does against the Atlanta Falcons defense will be a key part of their playoff game this weekend. SB Nation’s Acme Packing Company says Rodgers’ past performance suggests he’ll do well though the Falcons have been better lately.

The Green Bay Packers will travel to Atlanta this weekend to play the Falcons in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. The Falcons are favored by two points at the moment and it’s easy to see why some folks are picking them to win.

The Packers on the other hand have a knack for keeping games close. They lost five games this year -- three by three points and two by four points. Two of those five losses came in a game in which Aaron Rodgers was injured and another he missed.