GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers remain in hot pursuit of the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs.
The Atlanta Falcons, well, they remain in pursuit of the championship in the woeful NFC South.
The Packers dominated the first half, then held off the Falcons 43-37 Monday night at Lambeau Field. Making his 100th career start, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 24 of 36 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns.
Led by quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones, whose 259 receiving yards were the most ever against the Packers, the Falcons chipped away at a 24-point deficit to pull within 10 points early in the fourth quarter.
The Packers briefly restored order on Rodgers’ 60-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jordy Nelson. Defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman blocked the extra point, but Green Bay led 40-24 with 10:38 to play.
The Falcons responded, with Ryan hitting Jones three times to set up a 1-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roddy White. The two-point play failed, leaving Green Bay ahead 40-30 with 6:15 remaining.
Packers wide receiver Jarrett Boykin recovered the onside kick, and Mason Crosby tacked on a 53-yard field goal to extend the advantage to 43-30.
Atlanta wouldn’t go away quietly, with Ryan’s 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Harry Douglas on fourth-and-goal making it 43-37 with 2:11 remaining. However, Matt Bosher’s dribbling kickoff was easily corralled by Nelson at Green Bay’s 39.
With the Packers needing a couple of first downs to run out the clock, Rodgers ran for 12 yards, and running back James Starks delivered the crushing bowl with a 41-yard run to the 6.
“That’s what you look for,” said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who recorded his 98th career victory (including the playoffs), tying Vince Lombardi for second in franchise history. “When you get the ball back and they have two, three timeouts and a little over two minutes left in the game, that’s what you need to do. Great job by Aaron on second down there.”
Ryan finished 24 of 39 for 375 yards with four touchdown passes and one interception, with Jones doing most of the work. Despite missing the final drive due to a hip injury, Jones caught 11 passes, including one touchdown.
Green Bay (10-3) earned its fifth win in a row and ninth in 10 games to tie the Arizona Cardinals for the best record in the NFC.
“We’ve said it around here, you can’t really talk about the playoffs until 10 wins, so now that stuff starts to come together,” Rodgers said. “If you look at the NFC, you might have to win 11 to guarantee a spot, maybe 12 depending on how everybody plays. It’s an exciting time for the league, for the fans, for the fantasy owners, as well. I know this is kind of playoffs and the end of the run here. It’s an exciting time for football, and it will be a fun last three weeks. And then playoffs, hopefully.”
Atlanta fell to 5-8, but through the good fortune of playing in the NFC South, the Falcons are still tied for first place in the division.
“The opportunity keeps coming up for us,” Ryan said. “I think collectively we need to seize it. We are at the point in the season where it’s time. We have to play the kind of football that we are capable of playing for 60 minutes. We are in the mix, but we need to win football games.”
The Falcons got back in the game in the third quarter. On the first play of the second half, Ryan hit Jones for a gain of 79 to the Packers’ 3. On fourth-and-goal from the 5, Ryan connected with wide receiver Eric Weems for the touchdown.
After Atlanta forced Green Bay’s first punt of the night, Matt Bryant hit a 50-yard field goal to pull the Falcons within 31-17.
The Packers got a field goal on the ensuing possession to make it 34-17.
Green Bay led 31-7 at halftime, with Rodgers completing 18 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns and the Packers enjoying a 296-161 edge in yards.
“We didn’t execute in the first half,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “There were a number of plays, not only on offense, but on defense. We really had a hard time slowing them down in the first half. That is a very good football team. They have the best record in the NFL. We played much better in the second half than we did in the first half.”