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Looking At Some Matchups When The Packers Face The Falcons

At The Falcoholic was a post on four critical matchups, and two of the them focused on the Green Bay Packers offense. Another one focused on what is probably the biggest weakness for the Packers defense this season.

Can the Falcons stop Jordy Nelson? I made a counterpoint in the comments that the Falcons should be more worried about stopping Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley. Maybe I should have narrowed my focus on Jennings, who's caught a touchdown in each game (except against the Bears he caught 9 for 119 yards). When the Panthers held Jennings to only 1 catch for 6 yards in the first half, the Packers offense only scored 7 points. For the Falcons, their concern is that one of their backup corners (Hayden or Owens) are going to have to step up otherwise they'll be undermanned in the secondary.

The Falcoholic also considered whether DT Jonathan Babineaux could get a rush on LG T.J. Lang. I commented that I'm more worried about whether RT Marshall Newhouse can hold back DEs John Abraham and Ray Edwards. Newhouse seems to struggle with his inexperience and doesn't have an answer for every move a pass rusher can put on him. 

Another point, which was also discussed at the Press-Gazette, was that the Packers could have problems against TE Tony Gonzalez. This is my biggest concern because the zone defense that covers the middle of the field has suffered with the injury absence of S Nick Collins and the general disappearance of LB A.J. Hawk this season. Falcon running backs aren't generally receiving threats, but RBs Matt Forte and Jonathan Stewart each had huge receiving games against the Packers.