Depending on how you look at it, Falcons fans should feel much better after the Lions and Packers game on Thursday Night Football.
To me, Detroit dominating both Atlanta and Green Bay doesn’t take anything away from the Falcons’ comeback win over the Pack. The Lions are a damn good football team, and Falcons fans should stop overreacting to the embarrassing Week 3 performance.
Jared Goff threw an interception on the opening drive but quickly turned around with a 24-yard touchdown to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the next drive. Goff finished with 210 yards, one score, and one interception while completing 19 of 28 attempts.
The Packers, on the other hand, struggled in all facets, similar to the Falcons. Jordan Love began the game 1-for-7 passing with an interception. Though his stat line (23-for-36, 246 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions to go along with a rushing touchdown) ended up decent, a lot of it was in garbage time when the game was already in hand.
Falcons fans have talked about trading for Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill and signing Matt Ryan to go along with a minority calling for Arthur Smith’s job. The reality is the Lions are really good, possibly elite, and there was a perfect storm in Detroit.
Atlanta ran into a buzz saw. The offensive line couldn’t get any push in the run game, nor keep Desmond Ridder clean. Moreover, the Falcons defense was mostly good, outside of a Richie Grant-blunder and touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
After seeing the Lions dominate the Packers, I feel even more confident that Atlanta will bounce back. Sure, you could look at it from the other side and say fans overreacted to a comeback win over Green Bay. Well, that same team completed a double-digit comeback over the Saints.
The sky isn’t falling, and the TNF game reaffirmed that.
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Photographer: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire
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