The Green Bay Packers trotted over to the Georgia Dome this evening to play the Atlanta Falcons for a chance at going to the Super Bowl. Broadcast on Fox, the Falcons got the ball at the top of the first quarter but no points resulted from it. On Green Bay’s first possession, wide receiver Greg Jennings lost the ball (when Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas bumped him) and Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes recovered the ball. Several plays later, Falcons running back Michael Turner spun and dragged himself into the end zone. Atlanta 7 and Green Bay 0.
Three minutes into the second quarter and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Jordy Nelson connected for a TD. The Falcons answered those points immediately as HOLY HONEY-GLAZED COOKIE DOUGH NIBBLES!!! wide receiver Eric Weems returned a kickoff 102 yards for a TD. Atlanta 14 and Green Bay 7. The Packers eventually met that number increase with a TD of their own, courtesy of running back John Kuhn and a couple of penalties on Falcons cornerback Christopher Owens. Atlanta 14 and Green Bay 14. GASP! Falcons wide receiver Michael Jenkins slipped in the right side of the end zone and Packers cornerback Tramon Williams got his paws on that ball. With under a minute left in the quarter, the Packers increased their lead with a James Jones TD. Green Bay 21 and Atlanta 14. YARRGGH!! Not so cool under fire is Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan who was intercepted before halftime. Tramon Williams hustled seventy yards into the end zone. Hand bags. Green Bay 28 and Atlanta 14.
The middle of the third quarter indicated that Green Bay was on a bun. Aaron Rodgers himself ran the ball into the end zone. Green Bay 35 and Atlanta 14. Did John Kuhn really get his team another TD? Green Bay 42 and Atlanta 14. NANDESUKA?!!!! Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez limped off the field in the bottom of the quarter. Sure, Matt Ryan and wide receiver Roddy White connected at the top of the fourth, but would the Falcons be able to make four more TDs by the end of the quarter? Green Bay 42 and Atlanta 21. Packers kicker Mason Crosby missed a fifty-yard field goal, giving the Falcons a modicum of hope to rise above the cheese.
Another turnover. At this point, only divine intervention could help the Falcons prevail. Oh Lourdes, did Green Bay get a FG with fewer than eight minutes left in the game? Yes, they did. Oh now the head aches. Yet another turnover. And another FG?! Green Bay 48 and Atlanta 21. Final score.
Observations & Miscellania:
1. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were narrators for the game.
2. The National Anthem was sung by the Zac Brown Band. We have two Michael Turner fans and two Matt Ryans. A little pitchy?
3. I love the questions section of Men’s Health and Fitness magazine.
4. By the top of the third quarter, my stomach had fallen to my feet, my left eyeball had started to protest, and a wave of defeat invaded me the way it does any time the odds for a Falcons victory grow more and more discouraging. This moroseness added fuel to the muse that compelled me to write this poem. Je pense que le sentiment de tristesse inspiree par la realite est assez accablante, et c’est tellement personnelle that I preferred not to post it directly here. Besides, I haven’t been paying my LJ enough attention. I have to remember the wisdom of Baruch Spinoza, that “Suffering ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.”
5. I’ve had the game on but I effectively stopped “watching” it in the middle of the third quarter.
6. I’m now afraid of the poems I’ve written, especially the ones that aren’t blatantly joyful. This one that I wrote nearly a year ago to the date is so frighteningly applicable to my life right now…I’m reluctant to look at my own reflection. The muse may consume me, piece by piece, atom by atom until I wouldn’t want to know what’s real and what isn’t.
Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.
Click here for the Falcons’ roster and here for the Packers’ roster.
Sitting Pugs: Sports Movies 
Aaron Rodgers really seems to be out to prove to GB that he can be the next great Packer QB. Amazing to see Matt Ryan lose at home though.
Amazing…stupefying. And now, I’m hoping the Packers go all the way.
Wow those are some crazy questions. The one about prunes and digestion (melons, who knew?!) and about does one ingest smells were pretty hilarious.
And their Attorney On Call blog is great too.
Tu sembles avoir écrit ces deux poèmes tristes au mois de Janvier – le mois le plus profond de l’hiver.
C’est une coincidence?
Peut-être tu souffres de *Seasonal Affective Disorder*?
Non, non…Ce n’est pas le temps, c’est les événements réels et la crainte de ce qui peut ou peut ne pas arriver dans un proche avenir.
J’ai voyagé sur une route je n’ai jamais pris avant.