(SportsNetwork. [url=http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Austin-Bryant-Elite- Jersey/]Austin Bryant Lions Jersey[/url] .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.

(SportsNetwork. Austin Bryant Lions Jersey .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 now atop the dismal NFC South division in advance of their trip north to face the powerful Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. And win or lose 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, who fell back to 5-8 after Sundays setback to Carolina. If you look ahead, however, you can see things figure to get far stickier for the Falcons starting tonight. While Atlanta has to battle the Packers, who are 6-0 at home this season, New Orleans will face opponents who currently have a 12-26 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 now 4-8-1 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 Calvin Johnson Youth Jersey . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. Jahlani Tavai Womens Jersey . 3. Trevor Ariza left them talkin about 40. Ariza made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 40 points to help the Washington Wizards win their sixth straight game, 122-103 over Philadelphia on Saturday night. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com/ . Rodgers was ruled out on Friday by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Matt Flynn will make his second consecutive start for the Packers.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss poor injury alibis, the cutting of Michael Sam, MLB rosters and the NFL preseason. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star: My thumb is down to Josh Shaw: USC cornerback, NFL prospect, and raconteur. As dutifully published by the official USC football web site, Shaw explained his two sprained ankles by saying he leapt from a balcony to save a drowning nephew. He was hailed as a hero right up until the story turned out to be fake, at which point Shaw lawyered up, and there may be a darker explanation coming. Now, what have we learned? First, state media in sports is about what youd expect. And two, at USC, somebody needs to teach “Alibis 101”. What happened to saying you got hurt on a dare? Or while drunk? Instead, your excuse is: “Sorry, guys, I was just an incredible hero.” That, like Josh Shaw leaping from a balcony, was never going to fly. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to ESPN for its ludicrous and somewhat insulting coverage of Michael Sam. We all know the story by now; How Michael Sam became the first openly gay athlete to try out for an NFL team. We also know that as of yesterday, he didnt make the St. Louis Rams and may end up on the clubs practice roster. But what ESPN did earlier in the week, having since apologized for it, is air a story with a reporter asking players about Sams showering habits, whether he showers alone or with any of his teammates, as if any of that matters. This sent veteran Rams coach Jeff Fisher into a deserved llather but the best response regarding the situation saw came from Chris Long of the Rams, who tweeted: “Dear ESPN, everyone but you is over it. Kerryon Johnson Jersey. " Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Major League Baseball, which insists on playing with different sets of rules. No, this is not a rehash of the DH argument or a lament about separate trade deadlines, waiver and non-waiver. My line in the sand is the annual September 1 roster expansions, when teams can add as many as 15 players. Of course, theres value in extra arms and a few bench guys, but it remains absurd that MLB has not harmonized September roster sizes so a team with, say, 28 players isnt facing one with 34. At the biggest time of the season, a league that prides itself on parity legitimizes imbalance. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is down to Thursday night of this week, the part that saw 32 NFL teams reach the end of their horribly boring and meaningless pre-season schedules, the goal of which, according to Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, is to "stay healthy". Most of the stars manage to do that by not playing very much. Thus, it should be understood that NFL teams are insulting their fans. Those who boo, as they did in Buffalo while watching the Bills fail to score a point against the Detroit Lions, would be quite right to object if they did so from home. If, by protesting in person, they think the NFL will hear their displeasure, they miss the point that the NFL is oblivious and is more loudly cheering its ability to collect their money... for nothing. ' ' '