Next game: Sunday, Oct. 12 at Seattle
Packers Gameday at 12:00 p.m. on Newsradio 620 WTMJ, a live blog here and coverage on Live at 10 on TODAY'S TMJ4

4th Quarter

2:57 p.m.  0:00  Falcons' 4th Drive
OK boys, no successful onside kick?  2nd and nine, and Turner gains 8 yards.  The ULTIMATE 3rd and short situation in the middle of the field.

Get this stop and you still have life.

Kneeldown time, Falcons.

2:52 p.m.  1:56  Packers' 3rd Drive
Atlanta 27, Green Bay 24
Donald Lee 4 TD run
Miracle comeback time, Aaron.  9 yarder to Nelson, though dangerous and a possible interception.  Then a GREAT play by Jennings on a catch and run for 35 yards.  Rodgers holds his right elbow when Jonathan Babineaux crashed into him.

Give Rodgers kudos for playing hurt.

Driver missed the pass when it deflected off his hands...he thought he was interfered with.  But no problem - a 17-yarder to Humphrey takes them inside the 10.

Then, Lee produced a 4-yard touchdown run on a reverse shovel pass up the middle.  Beautiful.

2:43 p.m.  3:35  Falcons' 3rd Drive
Falcons 27, Packers 17
Turner 2 yd TD run
Well, Turner just put the Falcons into clinching position with a run to the GB 2 thanks to a missed tackle by Barnett.

Turner then just crashed off tackle to the left and ended this thing.

2:41 p.m.  4:33  Packers' 2nd Drive
Allen Barbre makes this drive's possibility to get the lead a lot tougher with a 2nd down holding penalty.

2nd-20 at the GB 25: great throw of 16 yards to Driver...another yellow hankie?  Good, that's illegal contact by the secondary.  1st down...automaticamente.

On 2nd down, Rodgers wasn't out of the box when he got backside smashed by Abraham.  That really makes things worse...3rd and 50,000, or maybe 19.

Rodgers forced it into coverage trying to hit Nelson and it was INT'd.  Ugh.

2:29 p.m.  7:19  Falcons' 2nd Drive
Atlanta 20, Green Bay 17
Elam 41 FG
Norwood makes life bad for Packers defenders, having only 47 yards of turf behind them after a 53-yard return.

Turner powers for close to the first down, at least, on a 10-yard attitude run.  When attitude runs are 10 yards, there's a problem.

Ryan hits Jerious Norwood, but short of the first down.  Jason Elam gives Atlanta the lead.

2:20 p.m.  10:32  Packers' 1st Drive
Green Bay 17, Atlanta 17
Rodgers-Jennings 25 yd TD pass
Tory Humphrey makes his first big play of his Packers career - 37 yard bomb over the middle!   There's life in Green Bay.

Ryan Grant would not be denied after running into a pile and coming out with his feet still pumping.

Greg Jennings!!!!!  WHAT A CATCH in the end zone, double covered, but beautiful throw by Rodgers.

2:15  p.m.  12:16  Falcons' 1st Drive
Matt Ryan drives his guys near midfield before Nick Collins puts a hurting on Jenkins with a great open-field tackle.  Big 3rd-7, and Ryan gets his receiver, Jenkins, on a DEEP pass downfield...but a flag down.  FACE MASK??  You are very ugly.

INT by Tramon Williams in the end zone!  YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!  Even better than Red Stripe.

3rd Quarter

2:09 p.m.  :00  Falcons' 2nd Drive
Jenkins had a step on the defenders - two of them, mind you - but Ryan overthrew him on 1st down. 

2:05 p.m.  :27  Packers' 2nd Drive
Atlanta 17, Green Bay 10
Crosby 50 FG
Now the Packers have to go 99 yards.  Where's Robert Brooks to catch a 99-yard TD pass?

Great pick-up on the 3rd down for the pass to Ruvell Martin.  Another 1st down later on the drive by Martin, but you'd like to see him tuck in the football more after the catch.  (No fumble, no biggie.)

Another completion from Rodgers to Nelson, this time.  14-yarder...rhythm coming.  Rodgers holds his arm a bit. 

Another 3rd down pass to Jones...a gain that's two yards short of the 1st down.  Do you bring in Crosby for a 50 yarder?

Yes, and it's good.  :)

1:52 p.m.  7:19   Falcons' 1st Drive
Atlanta really can take control now.  A late hit on Nick Collins on a potential three-and-out situation makes it easy.  That kills 29 yards of field positions.

3rd and 7 at the 45: another key catch by Roddy White.  He is Jerry Rice, or just a relative....hang on...did the catch actually happen?  Packers challenge....

....and it works!  White didn't have the ball.  Big call.

1:43 p.m.  9:12  Packers' 1st Drive
They really need a confidence shot on this drive.  Nelson picks up a muffed punt, goes across the field, and an across-the-field attempt to get a hole usually means a penalty on the return team.  It does - Jarrett Bush holding.

Good first down from Rodgers to Lee to get out of their own red zone.  A solid nine-yard run from Grant with a spin move, then again with a first down.

Rodgers to Jennings again on a 20-yard gain over the middle.  Can't stop that slant if Rodgers delivers it well.

A high snap over his head, and Rodgers is smart and throws it away.  A penalty gets it to 2nd and 20, and Rodgers misses Jennings wide open across the field.  That's called an ailing shoulder.

3rd down and Jackson can only get a two-yard reception, because Rodgers had no other options.  John Abraham was about to Issac and Jacob Mr. Rodgers into the Old Testament times.

2nd Quarter

1:19 p.m.  :00  Falcons' 3rd Drive
Falcons move into Packers' territory on the no huddle.  Roddy White dropped a pass with :15 left, though.  They have to punt. 

1:14 p.m. 1:10  Packers' 2nd Drive
A 46-yard KO return by Will Blackmon gets wasted on a stuff by Keith Brooking...wait...NICE call on the spot, so the Packers got the first down on 3rd and 1.

Nice catch by Driver over the middle for a first down, and I think Rodgers finally got the message - throw to Double-D sometimes.

Red zone for the Packers - first trip in there, and Rodgers gets sacked near the 25 on 3rd down.  Crosby gets some points...WHAT?  Finley gets nailed for a 10 yard penalty.  Way to make your kicker's job harder.  53 yarder...wide right.  Thanks, Finley.

1:02 p.m.  6:02  Falcons' 2nd Drive
Atlanta 17, Green Bay 7
Hmm...a rare stuffing a run play, Turner going nowhere on 1st down.  On 3rd and 9 deep in their own territory...Pat Lee interference?  That was a good break on the play....NO INTERFERENCE!  Open your eyes, Mr. Ref, or get a new prescription.

GREAT job on a 2nd down to stuff Turner on student body right, then on 3rd down, RODDY WHITE GETS WIDE OPEN with Hawk chasing him.  Jiminy Christmas, this guy isn't Jerry Rice!

Atlanta keeps moving with Justin Peel on a crossing route for 14 yards.  Our defense is Swiss Cheese right now.

Another deep pass play - 22 yards to White for the TD, and Blackmon turned too late to the pop-fly, then got destroyed and burned.

12:47 p.m.  10:31  Packers' 1st Drive
Atlanta 10, Green Bay 7
Rodgers-Driver 44 yd TD pass
At last, Grant is getting lanes to run.  At LAST!  Now, Rodgers gets the short passing game going across midfield with Jennings.  But the more they run, the more blocking they get, if they turn this drive into a TD, that's a "we're here, Atlanta, we'll be here all day" kind of message sender.

Do they send it?  YES!  Thanks to a BEAUTIFUL catch by Driver on a 44-yard bomb from Rodgers....but he's hurt.  Probably the wind knocked out of him.

12:40 p.m.  14:22  Falcons' 1st Drive
Finally a stop!  A great job on the 3rd down toss from Ryan to Norwood outside.  Thank goodness, for once.

1st Quarter

12:35 p.m.  0:00  Falcons' 3rd Drive 
Douglas starts the drive with an 18-yard reverse against a Packers defense that went napping.   Nobody home guarding the outside.  Then, Turner continues to blast

12:32 p.m.  2:37  Packers' 2nd Drive
3rd and 6 at the 29?  Rodgers threw inacurrately toward Jennings - going for him again, eh?  Can you throw to someone else besides Jennings?  McCarthy is ANGRY!  He gave a little Carlin verbiage on the TV feed.

12:27 p.m. 4:15 Falcons' 2nd Drive
Atlanta 10, Green Bay 0
Elam 42 yd FG
We really can't stop the run.  This is sick...Turner starting the drive with a 20-yard drive.  3rd and 3 at the GB 33: a shovel pass for the first down.  Aaach, as Larry McCarren would say.  (Is that a correct spelling?)

3rd-7 at the GB 24?  This time through Norwood's hands.  Phew.

12:19 p.m.  8:29  Packers' 1st Drive
A 3rd-and-10 swing pass gets Jackson short of the first down...what's the flag?  It's on the offense...decline it anyway.

Not how you respond to a drive by your opponent.  Wayne Larrivee: "inauspicious start".  That's right.

12:10 p.m.  9:52  Falcons' 1st Drive
Atlanta 7, Green Bay 0
How does Matt Ryan start?  With Woodson falling down and Roddy White catching a 40-yard pass from Ryan.

3rd-6 inside GB territory.and it's another slip, this time by Roddy White, and had he not slipped after the catch, it's a TD for Atlanta.

On a goal-line play...encroachment on Pickett and it's 3rd and inches and it's a touchdown pass from Ryan to Justin Peel

11:56 p.m.
Phew!  Aaron Rodgers is starting!  Hallelujah!  I didn't trust Matt Flynn in any way, shape or form.

Pregame Story

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- As a rookie quarterback playing right away for a team that ranked among the league's worst last season, Matt Ryan was expected to take his licks in 2008.

But four games into the season, Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons (2-2) have taken big steps toward helping people forget Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino.

Packers cornerback Will Blackmon, a former teammate at Boston College, isn't surprised at Ryan's early success.

"He always had that hunger to win and prove people wrong," Blackmon said. "Since Day 1, he's always had that in him. Coming from high school to college, we saw that. Coming from college to the NFL, I'm sure his teammates are seeing that."

Now Ryan has a chance to add a high-profile road win to his resume in Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers (2-2) at Lambeau Field. The Packers have lost two straight and are reeling from injuries.

"The season's long and there's going to be bumps and bruises for everybody as you go through the season," Ryan said. "But I still think they're very talented in the secondary."

But much of that talent will be on the sideline or not playing at 100 percent.

Cornerback Al Harris is out indefinitely with a spleen injury, and defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins was placed on injured reserve this week with a chest injury.

Linebacker A.J. Hawk has a groin injury, cornerback Charles Woodson continues to play with a broken toe and the Packers' three best safeties are listed on the injury report this week.

And Ryan might be the most experienced quarterback on the field Sunday. Packers starter Aaron Rodgers sprained his right shoulder in the Packers' loss at Tampa Bay last week, and it is unclear whether he will start Sunday.

If he can't, the Packers will start backup Matt Flynn, a seventh-round pick out of LSU who beat out more-heralded rookie Brian Brohm in training camp.

Rodgers says the quarterback-record consecutive starts streak owned by predecessor Brett Favre doesn't put any additional pressure on him to play Sunday.

"I don't need any extra fuel to play," Rodgers said. "I want to play extremely badly."

So far, Ryan and the Falcons have been much better at home than on the road. They've scored 30-plus points in home wins over Detroit and Kansas City, and lost road games at Tampa Bay and Carolina by identical scores of 24-9.

Ryan has completed 67.7 percent of his passes at home, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. On the road, Ryan's completion percentage has dropped to 45.9 percent, with two interceptions and no touchdowns.

Ryan knows what he's getting into in terms of the game-day atmosphere at Lambeau. Ryan's coach at Boston College, Jeff Jagodzinski, is a former Packers offensive coordinator.

"He talked a little bit about it, just the first couple times we met, said it's a great place to play, the atmosphere is second to none," Ryan said. "And I look forward to getting up there this weekend."

The Falcons tried to spark their offense at Carolina last week by running a no-huddle offense -- and Ryan showed he could handle it, an impressive feat for a rookie quarterback.

"We've had the confirmation that he's a very astute quarterback," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "He's going to go through some growing pains. Any young quarterback in this league is. It's probably the biggest learning curve of any position to make that transition from college to the NFL, but I think Matt has the mind-set to be very successful."

Ryan's ability to run the no-huddle certainly grabbed the attention of Packers head coach and resident quarterbacks guru Mike McCarthy.

"You can see where just in the early stage of his career they have already gone no-huddle with him," McCarthy said. "I think there is a lot to work with. I think he is a quarterback that has a promising future, but he's still young."

Ryan looks even more promising when the Falcons' running game is working.

New running back Michael Turner is averaging 7.2 yards per carry with five touchdowns at home, and 3.1 yards per carry and no touchdowns on the road.

Turner could have a big day against a Packers defense that has struggled to stop the run early in the season. Green Bay will have to adjust to the loss of Jenkins, an underrated complement to sack artist Aaron Kampman who slid inside to defensive tackle on passing downs.

McCarthy, typically not one to single out a particular player for praise, said Jenkins' first four games were "dominant."

And while the Packers still have a dangerous corps of receivers led by big-play threat Greg Jennings, they'll need to get more out of their own running game to end their losing streak. They'll also need better pass protection against Atlanta defensive end John Abraham, who leads the league with six sacks.

"We've got to get more production out of our offense," McCarthy said. "You can sit there and pick apart anybody. When you're on the field as long as we were and the number of plays that we're having, that's just not productive enough."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)