Week 3 of the NFL’s regular season slate kicked off Thursday night and brought us a far more explosive offensive showing than what we would have expected going into the contest. While it wasn’t as high-octane a contest as we saw last week in Orchard Park, the fact remains that one team answered some questions while the other may have more questions than they had before the game started.
We had a NFC clash between the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers at the normally frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Neither team was overly impressive in the first two weeks as the Falcons were 0-2, getting outscored 54-16 in the process. Meanwhile, the Packers were 1-1 but needed a fourth quarter rally just to beat the Jets in overtime last week. When all was said and done, the Falcons put the boots to the Packers, winning going away by a 35-14 margin that likely wasn’t even that close.
QUARTERBACKS
After watching Cooper Rush and Jack Strand set quarterback play back to the point where Atlanta fans were waxing poetic for the days of David Archer, Doug Johnson and Joey Harrington, the Falcons got Michael Penix Jr. back Thursday night. Sure, he’s had three ACL reconstructions and is 26 with now 13 games under his belt. Even Tua Tagovailoa was active after being hurt ahead of the opener with an oblique injury that cost him the starting job. Penix Jr. shook off an interception and a slow start to make some plays. He ended up 18 of 25 for 256 yards with a touchdown and the interception. However, he did hit 17 of his last 20 throws after a one of five start.
On the flip side, Jordan Love may have put up some numbers but he was playing from behind most of the way. His stats were the chips of numbers, just a bunch of empty calories. They look pretty on the stat sheet but they didn’t have much of an impact in the game. Some of it was the fact that his offensive line was suspect as they were minus two starters. While he was sacked just once, he was hit on a dozen occasions, threw a pick and had a fumble. The final gasp for the Packers came on a fourth and one from the Atlanta seven-yard line with 10 minutes to go in the third quarter. Trailing by 10, the Packers had a chance to make it a one-score game. They chose to go for it, and Love’s throw was out of the end zone. Atlanta marched 93 yards in 10 plays, chewing up 6:18, to go up 24-7 and that was that.
RUNNING BACKS
We talked last week about Jahmyr Gibbs and how he was one of the top picks in your fantasy drafts. The same can be said for Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. He didn’t have massive numbers the first two weeks (37 carries, 155 yards), mainly due to the fact that the quarterback play was so abysmal. With an actual quarterback running the offense Thursday, he was busy and proactive. Robinson racked up 29 carries for 194 yards and a pair of scores. He also caught a couple passes for 19 yards. Perhaps his biggest play was in the third quarter when he sidestepped Zaire Franklin, who had him dead to rights, and went up the sideline for 31 yards. Brian Robinson (10 carries, 50 yards, TD) was effective as the second back while also finding paydirt. The Falcons AVERAGED 5.9 yards a carry in the game. That’s scary for opposing defenses to consider.
For all the success Atlanta had, Green Bay couldn’t run their way out of a phone booth. As a team, they ran the ball just nine times and totaled a paltry 17 yards. None of the backs looked impressive. MarShawn Lloyd (11 yards) and Kaleb Johnson (six yards) each had four carries in the contest. Chris Brooks, who seemed to be more effective in the first couple of weeks, didn’t get a carry and had a catch for four yards in garbage time. Brooks (26) had the most snaps out of the three as Johnson had 22 and Lloyd 15, but that didn’t mean much. It’s safe to say that if you have any of these backs on your roster, you’re in dire straits, and I don’t mean as in you get your money for nothing and your chicks for free.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Penix Jr. was locked in on Drake London often in this contest and it paid massive dividends. London was another guy that was hamstrung by the poor QB play in the first two weeks of the year with just six catches for 80 yards. He was targeted 10 times in this one and caught nine for 194 yards. Two of them were huge explosive plays in the second half. There was a 68-yard pass on a blown coverage where Brandon Cisse thought he had help over the top. Later, there was a 40-yard strike where he beat Keisean Nixon. Olamide Zaccheaus, Zachariah Branch Jr. and Jahan Dotson combined for seven targets but clearly were secondary options in the pass attack. Dotson (47 snaps, 18 routes) had far more action than Zaccheaus (24, 11 routes), Chris Blair(13, six routes) and Branch Jr. (13, six routes) in the game.
Green Bay threw the ball a ton in the contest so their receivers got numbers. The Packers scored the opening touchdown on a toss to Christian Watson but they struggled to move the ball when the game was still hanging in the balance. I expected more from both Watson (seven grabs, 96 yards, TD on 10 targets) and Matthew Golden (five catches, 100 yards, TD on 12 targets) in the game. After all, A.J. Terrell is on injured reserve and Billy Bowman Jr., the starting nickel back, was questionable. Surprisingly, Skyy Moore (32 snaps) got more run than Bo Melton as the #3 receiver with Jayden Reed out. He didn’t make much of his opportunities, so it will be interesting to see if things change next week if Reed can’t go again. Melton (21 snaps) and J. Michael Sturdivant (20) saw more work than last week.
TIGHT ENDS
With London being such a major factor in the passing game, if you were expecting a breakout for Kyle Pitts, you were in for a disappointment. He was targeted just twice in the game, the same number of targets that Austin Hooper got. Hooper managed to convert both of his targets into 11 yards and a score, while Pitts had just one for five yards. Charlie Woerner (43 snaps, 10 routes) outsnapped Pitts (42 snaps, 19 routes) with Nick Muse (17 snaps, one route) and Hooper (16 snaps, three routes) also seeing action as the Falcons leaned into 13 personnel more often than we saw the first two weeks.
For Green Bay, Tucker Kraft, as predicted, got the lion’s share of the snaps at the position. He was on the field for 49 snaps and finished with four catches for 26 yards on eight targets.Jonnu Smith (20 snaps, two catches, 16 yards) saw his share of action. Meanwhile, blocking tight end Mark Redman (seven snaps) and Josh Whyle (one snap) barely saw action. Whyle has just one snap the last two weeks and it’s safe to say that he’s pretty much just taking up a roster spot at this point.
MISCELLANEOUS
Nick Folk may be 438 years old but he continues to be a reliable kicker. He hit all three extra point attempts and both his field goal tries, connecting from 44 and 31 yards. On the flip side, Trey Smack converted his two extra points but his lone field goal attempt, which could have tied the game in the second quarter, was a 47-yard attempt that was blocked. Atlanta seemingly moved the ball at will, racking up a 498-328 advantage in total offense, a 25-18 edge in first downs and a 37:05 to 22:55 margin in time of possession.
For the Falcons, they are in the win column at 1-2 and right back in the thick of a bad NFC South where the division winner was 8-9 a year ago. They now get extra rest before heading to the Big Easy to face the Saints on Monday Night Football October 5 in a NFC South clash. On the other hand, Green Bay is 1-2 now, 0-2 in the conference and 0-1 in their division. Green Bay hopes to regroup and get some sort of clarity ahead of a road clash at Tampa Bay on October 4.
Next Thursday’s week 4 opener is an AFC North tilt between the Steelers and Browns. At least there will be baseball playoffs and hockey to watch, unless either you’re a sadist or looking for a cure for insomnia.
--Chris Kubala
