I feel like we need to start a new topic on this instead of continuing the other one that is generally for the lead-up to the game, where different conversations and arguments often start and the real meaning of the topic is lost. Ergo, I'm starting a new one.

We played well tonight.

Rodgers showed us all again that he is able to slow everything down and manipulate almost every surrounding a team can put in front of him. His anchor, Chad Clifton, goes down early. This could be devastating to him, it was to me. How did he react? By being better. Throwing better balls, commanding the OL and people like DJ Williams to be utility blockers for the night. He was simply amazing again tonight.

Our receivers played relatively well. Seemed like whenever ARod was in trouble, they were able to separate and get their hands on the ball when he delivered. Since Finley wants everybody to think he is a receiver, I'll put him in this paragraph. He dropped 3 IMPORTANT balls, two of which would have scored points, and had one that was a drop/deflected pass. Then, he dances around like a GD moron when he makes two plays that he is expected to make. I usually let this shit slide with him because he IS so talented, but tonight it was more than I could handle. My brother put it the best, "He's an awesome player. Take his word for it." I'm getting really tired of watching him be a dumbass and listening to his BS when he is not stepping up in ALL of the plays that we need him instead of just some of the time. And stop referring to yourself as a playmaker and telling everybody that you need the ball, then doing that kind of crap. Dipshit.

The OL did very well tonight after losing Clifton. Newhouse and Sherrod both did better than I had expected. I thought that ARod would have a ton of short underneath passes after Cliffy went out so he could avoid being decapitated after a 1-step drop, but he was afforded plenty of time on average, and I was very pleased with that.

The defense looked aweful in the first half. Couldn't cover anybody. Couldn't get any pressure on Matty Ice. Couldn't handle a single-team, let alone a double-team. Raji was shaking his head half of the game. He knew he was getting his ass handed to him. They all were. The second half was another story. The D stepped up, made the 3rd down stops when needed, and didn't allow any points. Them holding the Falcons to 0 after the initial 14 was probably my favorite part of the night.

Lastly, Special Teams was great tonight. Masthay had a great punt, kick coverage was decent (didn't let up anything too bad when they did run it out), and Crosby was a clutch 4/4 with a record-tying 56 yarder that could have gone 66.

All in all, it was a tight, scary game that reminded me of the SB with all of it's ups and downs. We found a way to win, though. Good job, Packers.

---

Wow, why the hate on Finley?

I agree the catch on the goal line that he dropped was inexcusable. He just flat out dropped it. But the other two were pretty tough. On the 2-point conversion, dude was falling backward; he was basically expected to up and grab a ball thrown high. It's a tough catch from the start, and add falling backward with a defender on you... well it isn't exactly like he was wide open. Ditto for another drop on third-down. Right after he catches it, he gets hit. He's talented enough to make those catches consistently, yes, but cut the man some slack because he literally gets hit right as he catches it and turns around. Even then he holds onto the ball, losing it as he hits the ground.

Finley talks big. People may not like that, but dude works like hell to back up what he says. A couple of the catches he dropped tonight, any lesser player is going to have difficulty being in a position to have a chance to even catch those passes. Like him or hate him, he runs his mouth but then does his hardest to back his words up. You have to respect him. One of his drops was bad, but I can live with the other two because despite their difficulty, I'm confident that he makes those catches if put in that tough spots again next week.

On the subject of Packers TEs: holy hell DJ Williams had a chip block for the ages right before he caught his pass. Even I felt it despite not being the one hit.

---

He backs up being a playmaker a lot of the time but he didn't tonight. I can appreciate that we don't want him to hang his head the whole night, but at the same time I want him to learn from his mistakes instead of looking at this game as the two big balls that he did catch. He can't keep up the talk about how he needs to get the ball because he is the playmaker when he has dropped two TDs and a crucial (at the time) extra point that Aaron has laid right into his hands this year.

I am a Finley fan. I'm glad he's on our team. I just feel like a parent that is disappointed in the actions of their young son.

---

This might be because I've grown leaps and bounds on Finley, but really I think he resembles the overall team quite well. Outside of the running his mouth bit, he is extremely confident and borders on arrogance. He is cocky. Yet he works quite hard to be ready and to back up his words. What I personally love is that he oozes a confidence, a "yeah, I can do this. Hell, I can do this better than others. I want that chance do this" mentality that you want a champ to have.

---

I would love it more if he would consistently "do it". It's when he is consistently making mistakes that I become frustrated. I know that every one of his drops tonight were balls that he has caught before. Tonight, he just didn't have it. Lets hope he does the next 11 (+3) games.

---

it was tough early, afer we lost clifton i was pretty worried. I expected us to have to keep 1-2 extra guys back on the line to help protection, and we did for a while. I thought that was going to put our offense in a huge funk, but it didn't take mccarthy long to figure out and i am impressed with how our offense fought back and our defense stepped it up. We need to figure out a way to get pressure.

---

This isn't much of a contribution to this thread, but, alas: AADP knows his shit. That's my assessment of his posts the VAST majority of the time -- they are on point.

---

I'm rooting for him to be right and JF not to end up being a ticking time bomb that plays under what his mouth sells.

---

Agreed.


And this thread couldn't have been included in the other Atlanta thread because of ....? 🤷

It isn't just a pregame thread. You must want to earn points for starting new threads. [grin1]

---

Any updates on Clifton's injury?

Sherrod looked a little shaky out there at right tackle, but got better as the game went on. He's been playing on the left his whole career so I'm not surprised it took a little while for him to get settled. It's good for him to get some reps this year.

I got to think Bulaga will be back soon. If so, I wonder if he gets the nod to start on the left or if they keep him on the right. Newhouse has been better than suspected, but I would not want to see him on Jared Allen or Chris Long one-on-one.