Green Bay Packers vs Atlanta Falcons 2003-01-04

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Event
Green Bay Packers vs Atlanta Falcons

Date
Sat 4th January 2003 (UTC)
Sat 4th January 2003 (Local)

Timestamp

Time

00:00:00 UTC

Timezones
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24-11-22 16:00 (PST Los Angeles)
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24-11-22 18:00 (CST Chicago)
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24-11-22 19:00 (EST New York)
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24-11-23 00:00 (GMT London)
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24-11-23 01:00 (CET Paris)
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24-11-23 04:00 (GST Dubai)
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24-11-23 05:30 (IST Kolkata)
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24-11-23 09:00 (JST Tokyo)
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24-11-23 11:00 (AEDT Sydney)

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League
NFL

Season
2002

Round
18

Status

Location
Green Bay
United States

(65,358 Attendance)

		vs
	7 No timeline found..		27 No timeline found..

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Description

The Packers suffered their first home playoff loss as the Falcons forced five turnovers and limited Green Bay to only one touchdown. 22-year-old quarterback Michael Vick passed for 117 yards and rushed for 64 yards. The Packers, playing without Pro Bowl defensive back Darren Sharper and their top receiver Terry Glenn due to injuries, fell down 24–0 in the first half and could not recover. Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, while Ryan Longwell missed two field goals.

The Falcons stormed out to a 7–0 lead by driving 76 yards on the opening drive, including an 18-yard reception and 12-yard run by running back Warrick Dunn, scoring with Vick's 10-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Jefferson. Then defensive back Keion Carpenter gave Atlanta another chance to score by intercepting a pass from Favre and returning it two yards to the Packers 38. Green Bay's defense bailed the team out preventing the Falcons from gaining any yards over the next three plays, but at the end of the Packers next drive, Atlanta linebacker Mark Simoneau blocked Josh Bidwell's punt and Artie Ulmer recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown to increase their lead to 14–0. The Packers responded with a drive to the Atlanta 20-yard line. But after Brady Smith sacked Favre for a 9-yard loss, Longwell missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.

Early in the second quarter, defensive back Tyrone Williams, a blocker on Green Bay's punt return team ran into returner Eric Metcalf. As a result, Metcalf muffed the kick and Atlanta fullback George Layne recovered the ball on Green Bay's 21-yard line. Packers coach Mike Sherman did not challenge the call, a mistake considering replays showed the punted ball bouncing off a Falcons player's left shoulder. Sherman said he spoke with an official on the field, "but he led me to believe it would not be reviewable." Four plays after the turnover, T. J. Duckett's 6-yard touchdown run increased Atlanta's lead to 21–0. Green Bay responded by driving to a first and goal situation on the Atlanta 1-yard line, but over the next three plays, Favre threw two incomplete passes and Ahman Green was tackled by Smith and defensive end Johndale Carty for a 1-yard loss. On fourth down and 2, Green was dropped for a 4-yard loss by nose tackle Ellis Johnson. Then Vick led the Falcons 90 yards in 16 plays, one of them a 21-yard run by Dunn, to go up 24–0 on Jay Feely's 22-yard field goal on the last play of the half.

Green Bay regrouped on the opening drive of the second half, moving the ball 73 yards in 10 plays, the longest a 25-yard completion from Favre to receiver Donald Driver. Favre finished the drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Driver, but the receiver was knocked out of the game on the play, and Atlanta responded with a 73-yard scoring drive of their own. The key play of the drive was a 22-yard scramble by Vick, while Feely finished it off with a 23-yard field goal that gave the Falcons a 27–7 lead. There was still 3:46 left in the third quarter, but this would be the game's final score. Green Bay responded with a drive to the Atlanta 26-yard line, only to have Longwell miss a 44-yard field goal attempt.

The fourth quarter played out like comedy, as Feely missed two field goal attempts while Green Bay turned the ball over three times: once on downs, the second time when Patrick Kerney recovered a fumble from Favre, and the third when Favre threw his second interception of the game to Carpenter. This would be the Falcons final road playoff victory until 2017.