Look, I'm not saying that the 5 WR sets weren't necessary. As you say, running on third and short was shut down.

But if your running game is such that 5 WR sets become necessary to convert 3rd or 4th and short, then I'm sorry, your running game has problems.

And IMO, it has problems that a championship team's running game should *not* have.

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And to be clear, the mistake on that return wasn't the facemask, it was the failure to contain and tackle him. Without the facemask, the runner still gets another 5 - 10 years just from falling down.

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What happens today, is not necessary a lock to happen next weekend.

For this game, Atlanta proved they were good enough to shut down the Packers' short yardage game. Again, Green Bay needed to adjust and they did so properly in my opinion.

If this trend occurs, then you have something to worry about, but since the Packers got going, they're short yardage packages have been well executed. They've used several different sets as well.

This game was more about Atlanta stopping the Packers than the Packers stopping themselves.

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For as well as the Falcons ran the ball, they nearly lost. That running game almost didn't get them a win.

A couple blown calls by the officials and we win.

I am not trying to say what if. I am just illustrating that the lack of a run game didn't take us out of contention with a great team that was running it well.

If the game was basically a tossup, you would think a dominating run game would make more of a difference.

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Yes. The returner may have even gone all the way were it not for the facemask.

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I can't remember a game where we failed to wrap on tackles as consistently as this one in the last few weeks. We kept trying to hit them, not tackle, or so it seemed to me.

We shot ourselves in the foot a few times and the Falcons did what good teams do, capitalized on them and smothered us.

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Agreed. They seemed more intent on stripping the ball than tackling.

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The Packers didn't whiff as much as Michael Turner just ran them over. There was one play where Zombo failed to attack Zombo, but beyond that, I didn't have a problem with the tackling.

EDIT: Tramon Williams didn't exactly tackle well either. He may be the exception.

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Who the fuck are these "true" RBs that were so available? Marshawn Lynch? Larry Johnson? Bryan Westbrook? Willie Parker?

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You saying Michael Turner is a good running back that has to be accounted for by a defense, correct? I bet that makes it easier to play QB.

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