The Athenaeum Forum

(SportsNetwork.com) - Lets face it, the Atlanta Falcons are lucky to be playing meaningful football in December. But the schedule doesnt shape up as all that fortunate down the stretch. The 5-7 Falcons are tied atop the dismal NFC South division with New Orleans in advance of their trip north to face the powerful Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. And win or loss in Titletown, Atlanta will remain in control of its own destiny because of a perfect 4-0 record inside the division along with a looming Week 16 matchup at the Saints. If you look ahead, however, you can see things figure to get far stickier for the Falcons starting in Week 14. While Atlanta has to battle the Packers, who are 6-0 at home this season, New Orleans is hosting a Carolina team that has lost six straight a day earlier. Looker further the Saints will face opponents who currently have a 15-32-1 mark the rest of the way. Conversely, the Falcons face three teams with playoff aspirations (The Pack, Pittsburgh and New Orleans) before finishing off with the Panthers. Both the Saints and Atlanta are attempting to avoid joining the 2010 Seattle Seahawks as being the only NFL teams to win a division with a sub-.500 record. The Falcons have won three of four overall, including a big 29-18 win over the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 action at the Georgia Dome. Matt Bryant connected on all five of his field-goal attempts in that one and Matt Ryan finished with a season-high 361 yards on 30-of-41 passing with scoring throws to Julio Jones and Levine Toilolo. Jones led all receivers thanks to 189 yards on 10 receptions, Harry Douglas added 116 yards on nine grabs, and Steven Jackson contributed 101 yards on 18 carries. Arizona signal caller Drew Stanton was picked off twice by the much-maligned Atlanta defense, once by Josh Wilson and another by Dwight Lowery. The Packers, meanwhile, took another step toward what would be a franchise- record fourth consecutive division title when they outlasted the New England Patriots, 26-21, in a game that could have foreshadowed Super Bowl XLIX. MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns and kept two NFL-record streaks alive as he outdueled Tom Brady and the Pats. Rodgers was 24-of-38 and has now thrown 360 consecutive passes with 31 touchdowns since his last interception at home, which was over two calendar years ago. Eddie Lacy rushed 21 times for 98 yards and caught two passes for another 17, stretching his Green Bay running back record to four consecutive games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage. Davante Adams had six receptions for 121 yards and Randall Cobb made seven catches for 85 as the Packers ran their winning streak to four games since their bye week. Weve been great at home, said Rodgers. The fans have been excellent with the noise and weve got a good advantage with it. Weve just got to keep rolling. Green Bay leads its all-time series with Atlanta by a 14-12 margin, including a 22-21 win at Lambeau last season while Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone. On Monday nights the Falcons have been dismal historically, compiling a 10-26 mark. The Packers are also underwater but much better at 28-31-1. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Rodgers has thrown for 20 touchdowns without an interception at home this season. Overall, the All-Pro leads the NFL with a 118.6 passer rating and has thrown for 32 scores against just three INTs, captaining a team that scores 31.7 points per game, the best mark in the league. In his four previous career meetings against the Falcons Rodgers has always crossed the 300-yard barrier throwing the ball and has nine TDs against just one INT. Its a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers, Falcons coach Mike Smith admitted. No doubt, hes playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now. Hes got a number of weapons he can get it to. Hes played extremely well at home. I dont think hes thrown an interception at home this season, and I dont even want to talk about how many points theyve scored. The answer to that is 40.9 points while outscoring foes 245 to 106 at Lambeau. I dont know that theres been a quarterback thats had a stretch like hes had in the history of the NFL, Smith continued. Rodgers finished November with 1,233 yards passing with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions for an NFL-best 128.1 passer rating. And more importantly a 4-0 record. No disrespect to any quarterback in the NFL, but right now hes at a level that is much higher than anybody else, Smith said. When you look at his pure statistics, theyre phenomenal. The key to Green Bay at home has been blitzing people out of the starting blocks. The Packers have outscored their opponents by an amazing 79-0 margin in the first quarter of their last five home contests. That number expands to 151-23 at halftime and 14 of those 23 points were scored by the powerful Patriots last week. Foes have been looking up and finding the score 14-0, or in the case of the Pats 13-0, and that has enabled a flawed Packers defense to excel as teams become more one-dimensional. Despite some talent issues on the defensive side Green Bay has allowed just 17.3 ppg in its current four-game winning streak. When you watch the tape, its even more impressive, Smith said. (Rodgers has) got a great grasp of how to attack defenses. Hes extending plays. If he can extend the play and when the play gets off schedule, he can make the throws. Hes been very accurate. His quarterback rating is off the charts. You would think the only way Atlanta can beat the Packers is in a shootout and Ryan isnt too shabby himself, currently second in the NFL with 3,427 passing yards, slightly ahead of Rodgers 3,325. The veteran also has 21 TD passes versus 10 interceptions and a solid 93.7 passer rating. Jones, meanwhile, is one of the best receivers in the game as evidenced last week when he torched the highly-regarded Patrick Peterson time and time again. The Falcons could also get a boost from the potential return of Jones regular running mate, Roddy White, who sat out last week with an ankle problem. Roddy was close to playing (last week), Smith said. He worked with our athletic performance guys late in the week. We felt that it was in the best interest long term for him to not play in the game this past week. We anticipate, with the extra day, that hell be ready to go this week. OVERALL ANALYSIS Rarely is a division leader favored by double digits over another division leader but thats the story here and its hard to imagine a team with so many issues on defense like the Falcons solving Rodgers at Lambeau. We have some big goals, and were getting into December football now with a chance with everything right in front of us, A-Rod said. Expect the Packers to keep rolling here. Sports Network predicted outcome: Packers 34, Falcons 20 Denis Suarez Jersey . - The Minnesota Vikings have ruled Christian Ponder out for Sundays game at Baltimore, because the quarterback has not yet passed all of his post-concussion tests. Lionel Messi Jersey . -- Canadian Erik Bedard pitched into the fifth inning in his bid to win a spot in Tampa Bays rotation, helping the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday. http://www.barcelonasoccerpro.com/Authe ... na-Jersey/. -- San Francisco 49ers offensive co-ordinator Greg Roman is a finalist to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State, his agent said Monday. Sandro Ramirez Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged. Arda Turan Jersey . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. MILWAUKEE -- Chris Stewart quickly has become familiar with the repertoire of tough Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez. It paid off for the backup catcher Wednesday night. One night after grounding out in a nine-pitch at-bat against Rodriguez, Stewarts single keyed a three-run burst in the ninth inning and sent the Pirates past Milwaukee 4-1, ending the Brewers three-game winning streak. "I saw quite a few pitches from him (Tuesday) night, so I think that helped going into the at-bat," Stewart said. "He stayed away from me (Tuesday) night, so it gave me a read on what he was going to try and do in that situation." Rodriguez (1-1) threw two quick strikes to Stewart, but left a changeup high on the outside corner of the plate on his third pitch and the Pirates catcher belted it to centre, allowing pinch-runner Clint Barmes to score from second with the go-ahead run. "It was a big swing of the bat for us," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. Rodriguez had given up only one run in 21 innings in his first 21 games. But the Pirates tagged the Milwaukee closer for four consecutive hits to beat the Brewers for only the second time in nine games. Rodriguez said he was having a trouble with all his pitches and left both his fastball and changeup high in the strike zone against the Pirates. "Unfortunately, it wasnt my day," he said. "I didnt perform at the level I was expecting or everyone else was expecting. You just have to turn the page quick and be ready for the next day." Milwaukee managed only six hits and went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position minus Carlos Gomez. The star centre fielder dropped his appeal Wednesday and began a three-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing fracas at Pittsburgh on Easter Sunday. "We didnt swing the bat that well," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. Ike Davis singled pastt diving first baseman Mark Reynolds in the Pittsburgh ninth and Jordy Mercer singled sharply to centre.dddddddddddd Stewart, making only his eighth start of the season, then singled to centre. The throw from Gomez replacement, Elian Herrera, was wide of the plate, allowing pinch-runner Clint Barmes to score without a play and snap a 1-all tie. Starling Marte, playing for the first time since exiting Saturday with tightness in his back, then hit a two-run double to the centre-field wall. Tony Watson (4-0) pitched a scoreless eighth. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his fifth save in six chances. Pittsburgh won for just the fifth time in 16 road games. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano rebounded from two straight mediocre outings, but remained winless in nine starts. He received his fifth consecutive no-decision after allowing one run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings. "I expect the best is yet to come from Frank," Hurdle said. "Its just what I believe. Its the time of the year for him when he normally makes his move." Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta had another strong outing, giving one run on five hits and a walk while striking out four in seven innings. The right-hander received a no-decision but lowered his ERA to 2.05 in eight starts. Herrera, Gomezs replacement, went 0 for 4 and grounded out to strand Khris Davis at third in a 1-all game to end the seventh. NOTES: Brewers LHP Tom Gorzelanny threw two scoreless innings in his first rehab start for Single-A Brevard County against Fort Myers in the Florida State League. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out one while coming back from off-season surgery on his left shoulder. ... Trainers examined Liriano in the fifth inning, but the left-hander stayed in the game. He said he slipped on the mound but didnt suffer any injury. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '