Despite arriving at Lambeau Field in torrid form, the Atlanta Falcons leaned on the arm of Michael Penix Jr. and the legs of Bijan Robinson to dismantle the Green Bay Packers
Bijan Robinson tallied over 200 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons crushed the Packers on Thursday Night Football
Bijan Robinson tallied over 200 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons crushed the Packers on Thursday Night Football(Image: Getty Images)
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The Green Bay Packers were left humiliated in their home opener as Atlanta Falcons chants rang out around Lambeau Field.
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Entering the Thursday Night Football clash to open Week 3, alarm bells were ringing for the 0-2 Falcons. The quarterback play had been atrocious, and a slow start meant the Packers took the lead through a Christian Watson touchdown.
Atlanta continued to struggle, and tallied 27 straight drives to start the season without taking a snap in the red zone - tied for second most in the last 45 seasons with the 1997 Detroit Lions. But a controversial roughing-the-passer call on Michael Penix Jr. sparked the offense into life.
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Bijan Robinson starred, rushing for 194 yards and two touchdowns while adding 19 yards through the air as the Falcons secured a crushing 35-14 road win. Penix put an early interception behind him to complete 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown as he returned from his ACL injury in style.
Drake London tormented the Packers' secondary to the tune of 194 yards, allowing Atlanta fans to enjoy their day out in Wisconsin. Green Bay fans were stunned into silence, with βATLβ chants breaking out and audible around the stadium and over the Prime Video broadcast.
Packers fans may feel hard done by. The early stages of the game seemed to suggest a win was coming their way, but a controversial call on the Falcons' first scoring drive seemed to swing the pendulum in the direction of the struggling NFC South franchise.
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After Penix. was deemed to have grounded the ball, the Falcons faced third-and-11, and the quarterback went deep toward London, only for the ball to fall incomplete. But Atlanta received a reprieve in the form of on-field laundry.
A flag was tossed in the backfield as the referees deemed Brenton Cox Jr. had committed a roughing the passer foul on Penix, to the disbelief of many watching on. Cox was deemed to have hit Penix high, allowing the Falcons to continue their drive. Robinson then broke off for a 55-yard touchdown before bursting into the endzone to tie the game.
On the ensuing drive, with the Packers facing third-and-13, Jordan Love appeared to get hit high and hard as he found tight end Tucker Kraft for a 9-yard gain. As the special teams came out to punt, Love fumed at officials over the missed call, but the quarterback can only look at his own performance behind a porous offensive line.
The 27-year-old completed just 28 of 53 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns, and a late interception while he was battered and bruised all night. As a result of the offense's struggles and the poor rushing defense, the Packers saw their run of 13 successive wins to open the season at Lambeau Field snapped - and the boos sounded out around the iconic stadium as the two coaches embraced following the end of the fourth quarter.
The Packers have now lost seven of their last eight games at Lambeau Field, and Green Bay has posted its lowest rushing total through three games since 1933. Having struggled in the opening week loss to the Minnesota Vikings and then narrowly fought back to defeat the New York Jets, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur could find himself on the hot seat sooner rather than later.
Green Bay will need to respond on the road, taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. Meanwhile, after rediscovering their wings, the Falcons enter Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints in good spirits, having secured the first win of the Kevin Stefanski era.