Even though the Atlanta Falcons couldn’t defeat the Green Bay Packers as their NFC South counterparts, the New Orleans Saints, did earlier this year, they came excruciatingly close in a near-comeback 43-37 loss on Monday Night Football. Since the Saints were completely obliterated by the Carolina Panthers, the Falcons look like the best team in the division, and they showed they could beat another playoff-hopeful team by taking down the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13. Both the Cardinals and Packers games showcased the elite skills of Julio Jones, who is our “Player of the Week” for Week 14.
Stock up: QB Matt Ryan
For the second straight season, Matt Ryan has played quality football but hasn’t received enough recognition for his efforts. He should target the unstoppable Jones as often as possible, because good things happen whenever the No. 1 wideout gets ample targets. Ryan turned in a clutch performance, complete with 375 passing yards, 9.6 yards per attempt, four touchdowns, and a QB Rating of 116.7. His lone blemish was a pick to Morgan Burnett, but he was fantastic otherwise. Ryan’s pick was dreadful, but his performance was almost impeccable as a whole, particularly in the second half.Interestingly enough, he hasn’t thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in a game since his nightmare outing back in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. As a whole, he is sitting pretty with 25 TDs, 11 picks, 7.5 yards per attempt, and a completion percentage above 65%. Yup, he’s having himself a season.
Stock down: Secondary (except for Desmond Trufant)
I don’t know how many times I’ve praised Desmond Trufant this season, but it’s honestly never enough; he continues to be one of the NFL’s most underrated players despite his weekly brilliance. In any case, Trufant is probably being unfairly lumped together with the rest of the Falcons secondary, which is absolutely brutal. We knew they would be in for a rough night against the Packers elite offense, but they were even worse than expected. The pass rush actually provided a little bit of pressure, but the secondary was too busy getting manhandled by Jordy Nelson. Aaron Rodgers finished with three touchdowns, no picks, and 9.1 yards per attempt against a pass defense that couldn’t even handle Andrew Quarless. If I had to single out one player who had a worse day than anyone else, then it would probably be Kemal Ishmael.
Stock up: DE/OLB Kroy Biermann
We knew the Atlanta Falcons would have issues getting to Rodgers, but at least Kroy Biermann decided to provide some source of pass rush for this team. He did miss two tackles, but he also added a sack and four tackles of his own in a solid performance. It wasn’t a great day by any means, but it was a solid performance for a defense that was lacking in that department. Per the Pro Football Focus, Biermann added an additional four hurries, but one of them was a missed opportunity, as he whiffed on what should have been a sack of Rodgers.
Stock up: WR Julio Jones
I already wrote extensively about Jones yesterday, and I’m sure everyone has given him some form of praise over the last couple of days. He deserves even more written about him, because it’s difficult to express that sort of dominance adequately. The Packers knew Ryan would go to him frequently, and he finished the game with 17 targets. However, the Packers still had no answer for the elite wideout, as he hauled in 11 receptions for a career-high 259 yards and a touchdown, though he was so close to making it two TDs. He was so good, in fact, that the Packers benched big-money CB Sam Shields, but Jones destroyed anyone who stood in his way; it didn’t matter if it was Tramon Williams, Davon House, Casey Hayward, or a safety. We can only hope he’ll be good-to-go this week, as a hip injury could keep him out of watch should be an easy day against the Pittsburgh Steelers burn-prone secondary.
Stock down: LB Paul Worrilow
Worrilow had a pass defended, a QB hit, five total tackles, and one tackle for loss. So how on earth is his stock down? Well, Worrilow, per PFF, missed four tackles, and that number is simply far too high, especially considering the fact that he had just three solo tackles. He shows flashes of brilliance, but he’s too inconsistent to be a truly good player at this point in his career. That said, it’s still early for the former UDFA, as he’s only a second-year pro.
Next: Julio Jones the most important WR to his team's success