ATLANTA James Jones spent the week feeling horrible about the would-be 63-yard touchdown he dropped last Sunday. He spent Saturday night more than making up for it.

The Green Bay Packers fourth-year wide receiver caught four passes for 75 yards including a spectacular 20-yard touchdown grab and a critical 34-yard catch and run as part of the Aaron Rodgers-led offenses passing clinic in a 48-21 NFC Divisional Playoff rout of the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

I had a knot in my stomach for letting my teammates down when I dropped that ball, said Jones, whose drop in last weeks 21-16 NFC Wild Card victory at Philadelphia came shortly before halftime and would have given the Packers a 21-3 lead at the time. I just told myself to come out here and make the most of my opportunities and make a play for the ball. It made me feel good that Aaron kept coming to me. He didnt lose any confidence in me and I was going to go out there and make some plays.

Said Rodgers: I know he was the sickest person in that locker room after the last game. But I had confidence in him.

Rodgers had confidence in everyone on this night. Taking advantage of the absence of nickel back Brian Williams (knee), Packers receivers Greg Jennings (eight catches, 101 yards), Donald Driver (six catches, 79 yards), Jordy Nelson (eight catches, 79 yards) and Jones had their way with the Falcons secondary, which was forced to play little-used cornerback Chris Owens whenever the Packers went to their Big Five spread set.

We kind of did what we wanted to do, Rodgers said. We wanted to attack the middle of the field early and then once they started taking that away to work the stuff outside, the routes outside. Guys made some big plays.

Yet, it was especially important for Jones, who called his former wide receivers coach at San Jose State, Keith Williams, for a pep talk mid-week. What he got was a harsh reality check.

He said, You used to play a lot hungrier than you play now. When I dropped that ball (against Philadelphia), he said I was too relaxed, Jones said. When I came out here tonight, every time I lined up I just said, Be hungry. Go hungry to the ball. Catch the ball with your hands. Youve got great hands. Youve let a couple go, but youve got great hands and just made some plays.

So much for that: The biggest blemish on the otherwise dominating victory was the kickoff coverage unit allowing Atlantas Eric Weems whose 40-yard kickoff return, coupled with a 15-yard facemask penalty in the final minute helped set up the Falcons Nov. 28 victory to take a second-quarter kickoff back for a 102-yard touchdown, the longest kickoff return in NFL postseason history.

Special teams coach Shawn Slocum had said during the week that the coverage unit, because of consistency in personnel, had bounced back nicely after Weems return in the teams first meeting. Then, the first time he touched the ball, he blew through the middle of the Packers coverage and was gone.

They just got us on the scheme, said receiver Brett Swain, who lines up outside on the coverage unit. From the looks of the way they were blocking, they blocked one side out and they came with a whole wall coming straight to the other side and it just opened a huge seam in the middle. Well have to go back and look at film and go through what happened.

Its tough. You give up a play like that, and youre like, Man, it couldve cost us the game.

Fortunately for the Packers, it didnt.

It happened so fast, said kicker Mason Crosby, who missed Weems around midfield. We were going deep right, and we needed to get a little wider kick. I thought I had good hang-time on it, but he just found a seam and hit it. He did a good job. Put a move on me. I didnt make the play, and he was out.

The special teams also saw Crosby doink a 50-yard field-goal attempt off the left upright and Falcons wide receiver Brian Finneran recover an onside kick. Finneran was ruled to have touched the ball before it went 10 yards it was close, but replays showed he clearly touched the ball at the 39-yard line so that mistake didnt count.

It didnt end up costing the game, so thats good, said Crosby, who made 43- and 32-yarders later. But special teams, we need to look at that and make sure were clear on that.

Health watch: The Packers appeared to escape without any significant injuries. While safety Nick Collins left the field on a cart, it was only to get an IV because of cramps and he was able to return. Cornerback Pat Lee (hip) and fullback John Kuhn (stinger) were not able to return, although Kuhn, who was injured on his touchdown catch with 2:41 left in the third quarter, seemed fine afterwards.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy also said that Rodgers had cramps and came out of the game with 5:31 to play for "precautionary reasons."

Cornerback Sam Shields, who went down on Atlantas final possession, said he only had the wind knocked out of him. Nose tackle B.J. Raji took a knee to the head but said he was fine after the game. Nonetheless, with the NFLs emphasis on concussions, Raji could be subject to league protocol this week.

Great seats, hey buddy?: Other than having to hold for Crosby on five extra points and three field-goal attempts, Packers punter Tim Masthay had the night off. After the Packers opening drive ended in Jennings fumble, the offense scored on its next four possessions. Crosby then missed his 50-yarder, then hit his next two kicks before the Packers ran out the final 23 seconds in the victory formation.

I wish I hadnt hit about 200 balls into the net (on the sideline). I wouldve just rested the leg, Masthay joked. Ive never been a part of anything like that before. Once we got to about 8 to 10 minutes left in the fourth, I was like, We may go this whole game without a punt. The offense and the defense were just unbelievable. It was crazy.

Masthay said he didnt get to watch much of the offense because he usually is preparing when the Packers have the ball. However, he did have a front-row seat for the Packers third-down situations, of which they converted eight of 12 and their first seven in a row.

The thing that was most amazing to me, Im there every third down, ready to go on the field on the next play, Masthay said. And every third down, they just converted. Every single one, it seemed like. It was special to watch.

Raji in full: First, Raji drew motivation from a fullback. Then, he was a fullback.

The Packers second-year nose tackle revealed that defensive coordinator Dom Capers started Tuesdays defensive meeting with a quote from Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli, who Capers quoted as saying that the defense was soft after the teams Nov. 28 meeting. A Lexis-Nexis search didnt turn up any such quote attributed to Mughelli.

(Mughelli) gave us a little extra ammo, because he was talking so crazy, saying how soft we were and saying they knew they were going to beat us after the first drive of the first game, and we dont take that lightly, man. We dont take calling us out lightly, Raji said. And we responded well today.

I dont know when he said it, but Coach Capers put the quote on the defensive meeting room that was the first thing he put up this week, how he called us out and said we were soft and all this stuff. Thats what you get when you call a great team out.

Raji also doled out some fullback-like punishment, going in as an extra blocker on Kuhns 1-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter. He lined up along with Kuhn and fullback Quinn Johnson in the backfield, along with tight ends Andrew Quarless and Tom Crabtree in the Packers new goal-line personnel.

They told me late in the week that I was going to be doing that (playing fullback). So I went in the offensive meeting room for a little bit, sat down, they told me what to do, and I left, Raji said. Fun. Real fun.

Coach-speak: Veteran cornerback Charles Woodson addressed the team before the game, and he stole his speech from his coach at Michigan, Lloyd Carr, who led the Wolverines to the 1997 national title.

I just gave them a quote that coach Lloyd Carr used to always give us in college, said Woodson, who won the Heisman Trophy that year. The board doesnt give a damn about what you did yesterday. We had a good game the first playoff game against Philly, but that doesnt matter today. You have to come out and execute the game plan today and get another win. So that was our focus, to continue to play good football and get another win.

"JASON WILDE" wrote: