Monday Night Football: Atlanta vs. Green Bay

There was a time when the smile of most Mississippi boys could make any woman's heart melt. While today most of that innocence is lost, back in 1992 the youthful smile of one southern boy was transported up to the frigid, white north of America's armpit, a "bay" in Wisconsin. Luckily for the Packers, it's been the jumpstart they've needed after years of wallowing in Majkowski mediocrity. As for the Falcons of Atlanta, well, they haven't had time to miss the youthful exuberance of Brett Favre with Chris Miller lighting up the scoreboard and 'Neon' Deion Sanders staring the halter tops off of the opposite sex. These two teams have been on a collision course for a while, now let's examine the wreckage.

Quarter One
Robert Brooks kicks things off for the greenest of bays in America with a return from inside the Packers' end zone out to the 27-yard line. One play later, and the usually workman-like Vince Workman is dodging Atlanta would-be tacklers for 73 yards and his first rushing touchdown of the season.

Green Bay leads 7-0

The man they call Tony Smith, acquired in the trade for Favre from the Packers, goes on a popcorn parade through the Green Bay special teams unit before finally getting dragged down by all eleven Packers, a few coaches and three of Wisconsin's finest heifers. Steve Broussard returns to respectable fanfare, but loses 3 yards on his first carry back from his highly-publicized hangnail injury. Chris Miller, coming into the game only behind Hugh "Benchmark" Millen in passer rating, shows off his precise arm with a 20-yard overthrow of Andre Rison along the sidelines. On 3rd-and-13, he misfires towards Mike Pritchard, and Scott Fulhage is called on to fail in impressing his overly-critical father.

After just a net punt of 24 or so yards, Brett Favre goes to work with a play action to Harry Sydney for 22 positive yards. After a pitch to Sydney accumulates no further yardage, Favre goes back to play action. Scanning the scene for a receiver tonight, he tucks the ball in and looks for a fight. Able to scramble for 12 yards and another first down, the Packers close out the first quarter with the popular 18-yard Favre-to-Jackie Harris connection that's become all the rage with the impressionable youth of today.

Quarter Two
From the Atlanta 4-yard line, Harry Sydney gets a mouthful of Mike Gann and loses an entire yard in the process. A sterling Sterling Sharpe reverse gains it back, though the effort appears to have cost Sharpe the use of his cerebellum when the trainers have to come out and scrape him from the turf. On the all-important 3rd-and-goal from the 3, Workman makes it look easy for his second touchdown of the season.

Green Bay leads 14-0

Smith is less aggressive on his second return, only locating the Atlanta 14-yard line before being tripped up. Irregardless, Chris Miller lines up in the shotgun formation, and the oblivious Green Bay defense lets him rip for 9 yards. Broussard takes the pitch on the next play for his first successful run of the game, netting 8 yards. Matching his rusher's success, Miller connects on his first pass of the game, a 47-yard bomb to Pritchard in double coverage. Two excellently delayed handoffs to Broussard net 17 yards, and soon the Falcons find themselves on the precipice of six salacious points. From the Green Bay 5-yard line, Miller's pass to Pritchard is nearly picked this time, and so the Falcons opt to play it safe by letting the fatally fragile Steve Broussard high-knee it into the end zone.

Green Bay leads 14-7

A short Norm Johnson kick gives Green Bay favorable starting position at midfield. Harry "Soul Harvester" Sydney racks up an entire 4 yards on the ensuing carry, followed by a Sanjay Beach appearance to appease the Mideastern contingent in attendance. The famous Favre play action goes over an unnamed Atlanta defender's outstretched arms and into the hands of Jackie Harris at the Atlanta 2-yard line. With 27 eternal seconds remaining on the clock, rookie head coach Mike Holmgren is obviously misheard while in mid-hamburger when the field goal unit runs out and Chris Jacke kicks a quick 20-yarder. It remains to be seen if the infamous burger bite will come back to bite Holmgren in his own buns.

Green Bay leads 17-7

Halftime - Packers 17, Falcons 7

Quarter Three
Smith gets another bodacious run-back to the Atlanta 45-yard line, followed by a Miller bootleg for no gain. His next attempt, stubborn as it is, is a bit more successful as he picks up the first down. It's the 45-yard lob to a leaping Pritchard in the end zone that the Falcons' fans have been waiting for, however.

Green Bay leads 17-14

Norm Johnson, appearing a bit more pumped up from the combination of Miller's prowess and the Technotronic jam now thumping throughout the arena, careens the kick into the Green Bay end zone. Brooks only makes it a meager 5 yards out before getting tackled, giving the Packers their least amount of breathing room all day. Workman picks up a more characteristic 3 yards, which coincidentally is just enough to save Sydney from a safety on the next play when his pitch is called by the Falcons' defense and he's dropped at the Green Bay 1-yard line. He can't redeem much when an ill-timed pass by Favre is blocked, and Bryan Wagner is called on to punt from Row 11.

Tony Smith continues to produce, taking advantage of a short punt and getting his Falcons into Packer territory on the return. Brittle Broussard chalks up another 6 yards to his stat line to precede the Chris Miller show, which includes two passes to Pritchard and Rison that net 40 yards. From the 9-yard line, Broussard takes two attempts to net 5, leaving Wisconsin fans to try and figure out what is still yet needed for a score. Broussard answers it for them with a run up the middle that goes untouched by a single Packer defender.

Atlanta leads 21-17

The third quarter ends on a slightly different note than the others for Green Bay, though a decent Brooks return to the 41-yard line and a Brett Favre run for 28 yards has them headed in the right direction leading into the fourth quarter.

Quarter Four
Favre's play action pass to Beach tacks on another 22 yards, and suddenly the Packers are threatening to take back their once-strong lead. From the 9-yard line, Favre flings it to Beach in the corner of the end zone, though he overshoots wildly. His next pass lines its way to his favorite target in Jackie Harris, but Scott Case is there to spoil the day for the rookie with an interception.

Atlanta doesn't tend to take long to make the Packers pay for their ill-timed mistake. It takes two plays for them to extend their lead, one being a 6-yard run from Steve Broussard and the other a jumping jackass named Andre Rison nabbing the ball from 74 yards away.

Atlanta leads 28-17

Robert Brooks powers his way to the Green Bay 39-yard line, where the Packers hope to work quickly to rein this game back in. Two bad Favre passes leave the Packers staring at a 3rd-and-10 dilemma with most of their hopes lying on a rookie with no dental plan and a former USFL cast-out in Harry Sydney. Sydney loses 3 yards on the next play, and so on 4th down Favre takes his own chances and lobs a pass up. Unfortunately, Moe Gardner is there to tip the pass, and then immediately stare down Favre like he just made fun of his high-top fade.

Atlanta takes the ball over on downs in advantageous territory, though the Green Bay defense does their best to flip them around with three straight blitzes, one of which takes Broussard out for the second time this season. On the third blitz, Tony Smith fumbles the ball over to Chuck Cecil on his first professional carry, and suddenly the Packers are no worse for the wear at the Falcons' 28-yard line.

Coach Holmgren, who's name surprisingly doesn't appear on the book of clock management, runs two straight ground plays from Vince Workman before finally entrusting Favre with the ball at the 1-minute mark. On the ensuing play, Favre feels what it's like to be Jessie Tuggle's wife for the night. Licking his wounds, he harmlessly hands the ball off to Workman on fourth down, who catches the Falcons' defense unawares and picks up the first down. With 32 seconds left and needing to score, Favre launches it to Beach at the 5-yard line with only Jessie Solomon in front of him. And in the course of a few seconds, it's Solomon who's icing the game when he picks up Beach's fumble and slides the Falcons into their fourth win.

Final: Falcons 28, Packers 17

The story of the Packers' season thus far is told pretty neatly in the microcosm of this game. They led convincingly for the entirety of the first half, before skidding violently through the second and avoiding scoring points altogether. The Falcons, meanwhile, played the part of the cool, confident team that has gotten them where they now reside at 4-1. Unfortunately they play in the NFC West in a year where the Saints and 49ers appear an entire parsec ahead of them. Atlanta has the weapons, and with the right coaching should be able to find ways to use them to get into playoff talks. The Packers' offense, meanwhile, can't keep hiding behind Brett Favre's grits-smothered smile. If they have any more meltdowns like they did this evening, the rest of the NFC will continue to smell the blood in the waters of Green Bay.