26. Packers 22, Falcons 21 (2013)

Both teams had fallen well below expectations and were scraping to get to .500, or in Atlanta's case, close to it. Green Bay was 5-6-1 and had lost four of the five games since Aaron Rodgers was injured against Chicago, and the only non loss was a tie against division rival Minnesota. Atlanta, on the other hand, was even worse. The Falcons were coming off a 13-3 season in which they were the NFC’s No. 1 seed, but were a dismal 3-9 coming into the game at Lambeau Field. To date, this was the last time I have visited Lambeau. Green Bay was still without Rodgers, so Matt Flynn would get his second consecutive start. The last time the Packers took the field, they were destroyed 40-10 in Detroit on Thanksgiving. On this date, it was well below freezing with the temperature in the single digits. The Green and Gold fell behind 21-10 at halftime, but Flynn rallied the team in the second half and the Packers escaped with a 22-21 victory.

Green Bay struck first blood on a drive that spanned more than half the quarter. The Packers went on an 18-play, 90-yard drive to score first, on an Eddie Lacy 1-yard run just before the first quarter ended. The drive last more than nine minutes, which was set up by Lacy, who carried the ball seven times for 27 yards with a touchdown and caught two passes for 22 yards.

Even without the services of Julio Jones, Matt Ryan was able to find other receivers to throw to. On this drive, it was little-known Drew Davis, who caught a pass over the middle and broke free for a 36-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. Steven Jackson got the drive started nicely for the Falcons, gaining 22 yards on the first play. He would rush for 28 yards on the drive on three carries.

The Falcons were far from done in the second quarter. On the first play after the kickoff, Flynn was sacked and fumbled and Atlanta recovered at the Packers 13. On Atlanta’s possession, Ryan found Roddy White on a 3rd-and-9 for 10 yards down to the 2, where Ryan then found future Hall-of-Famer Tony Gonzalez in the end zone for the score and the Falcons quickly had a 14-7 lead.

Green Bay would get three back on its next drive, as Mason Crosby connected on a 40-yard field goal to slice it to 14-10. Nelson would help the Packers get in range with a pair of catches for 31 yards, but a sack on third down forced the Green and Gold to settle for a field goal.

The final minute of the first half was crazy. Trying to get into Crosby field goal range, Flynn connected with Brandon Bostick for 19 yards and Flynn converted a third down with a 17-yard run down to the Falcons 35 with a 34 seconds remaining. However, on the following play, Flynn tried to throw short to John Kuhn since the Packers still had two timeouts remaining. But the ball was deflected at the line of scrimmage and was heading to the ground, but it deflected off the shoe of Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow and into the arms of fellow linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who returned it 71 yards for the weird touchdown and Atlanta led 21-10 at halftime.

After a pair of punts started the second half, the Packers were able to drive down for a field goal. The biggest play of the drive was a 46-yard completion from Flynn to Nelson, moving the ball to the Falcons 22. That led to the 33-yard field goal by Crosby.

Atlanta went three-and-out once again and the Packers drove down for another field goal. After a sack on first down, Flynn connected with Andrew Quarless for 21 and then Jarrett Boykin for 19 two plays later and Green Bay moved to the Atlanta 41. Lacy had 20 combined yards to help the Green and Gold move down to the 7, but had to settle for another Crosby field goal to cut it to 21-16 with seconds remaining in the third quarter.

On a 1st-and-15 just a few plays into the final quarter, Ryan was sacked by Mike Neal and fumbled, which was recovered by Green Bay’s Johnny Jolly, giving the Packers the ball at the Falcons 21. The Green and Gold had an 8-yard reception by Nelson and two Lacy runs to move down to the Atlanta 2. On 2nd-and-Goal, Flynn hooked up with Quarless on a back shoulder throw in the end zone and the Packers took a 22-21 lead. The two-point conversion was no good and the score stayed at 22-21.

Atlanta threatened on its final three possessions, but came up empty each time. The first time, the Falcons moved into field goal range, but in single degree temperatures, Matt Bryant’s 52-yard attempt came up short. Harry Douglas had 20 yards receiving of the 35 total yards on that drive.

The second time the Falcons threatened was at the two minute mark. Ryan had 45 yards passing on the drive, but since Bryant was short on his last attempt of 50+, the Falcons decided to go for it on fourth down from the Packers 33. Ryan’s pass for Gonzalez was incomplete and the Packers took over on downs.

The Dirty Birds had one final chance with time running out in the game. Atlanta took over at its own 9 with 44 seconds left. Back-to-back passes to Jacquizz Rodgers and Roddy White moved the Falcons out to the 43. After an incompletion, Ryan threw a perfect pass to Harry Douglas, but it was in and out of his hands, which would have given the Falcons a first down inside the Packers 40. But as it is, Ryan would throw into double coverage on third down and was picked off by Jarrett Bush and the Packers would escape with a 22-21 victory and improve its record to 6-6-1. The Green and Gold would end up winning two of its last three to win the NFC North for a third consecutive year.