I was gone all last week and didn't get to watch the game till I got home late on Monday night. What a great game. When it was 14-0 I was thinking, "Well, you can't win 'em all." It looked like the defense was continuing their trend of being underwhelming this season. Then the Packers just blew the Falcons away. It seems like they are to the point now where they are just that much more talented and that much more poised than most other teams.
The Falcons played their grind-it-out, ball control offense to perfection in the first half, and it still wasn't enough. That approach just doesn't cut it in the NFL anymore. You need to be able to make big plays. When the Packer defense tightened up, the Falcons were powerless. On the other hand, when the Falcon defense got more aggressive, Rodgers and the receivers torched them time after time. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
I think the 56-yard field goal by Crosby was arguably the turning point of the game. It showed such boldness on the part of Mike McCarthy, putting that kind of trust in his kicker. I think that inspired the rest of the team. Also, I thought it was funny when Suzy Kolber (or whoever) had talked to McCarthy at the half, and he said that he would be changing his game plan to protect his young tackles. The TV people never seem to figure out that coaches generally don't just tell you their game plan. Sure enough, McCarthy put the pedal to the floor with the offense in the second half. He trusted his players, and they came up big.
I agree with Peter on Finley. He's supposed to be a big-time player, but he only makes big-time plays about half the time. The standards are high, and he needs to deliver more often than he does.