ATLANTA -- Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes on Sunday. Three of them went to receivers who had never before caught one in an NFL regular-season game. The other was the 55th of Jordy Nelson's career.
Yes, even after the 33-32 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, it appears the Green Bay Packers quarterback finally has his game in order, regardless of who’s on the other end of his throws.
Better late than never for an offense that struggled until last week’s breakout game against the Chicago Bears. At 4-3 and one game shy of the midway point of the season, the Packers find themselves at a bit of a crossroads.
“This will be an important time for us to stick together and figure out what we’ve got to do to go on a run,” Rodgers said.
Those on the offensive side of the visitor’s locker room at the Georgia Dome spoke in encouraging tones.
There was Geronimo Allison, whose first NFL reception was a 4-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
“I think it just shows the chemistry that we have as a team, the brotherhood that we have among each other, how each and every guy is a valuable part and can go out there and help,” said the undrafted rookie who was promoted from the practice squad just last week.
There was Trevor Davis, the rookie fifth-round draft pick who showed off his speed on a 55-yard punt return and had three catches for 24 yards, including a diving 9-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
And there was Jeff Janis, who finally backed up his stunning performance in the playoffs last season with his first career regular-season touchdown.
“I think it shows the type of guys we have in our room,” said Janis, who had four catches for 30 yards that included the 7-yard touchdown to give the Packers a six-point lead with 3:58 to play. “Somebody goes down, we’ve got guys who can step up and make plays, and I think that’s huge going forward in this season.”
It was Ty Montgomery and Randall Cobb who were down against the Falcons. Montgomery didn’t play because of a kidney-related ailment and Cobb was scratched because of a hamstring injury. Also missing was tight end Jared Cook, who might be on the verge of returning from his Week 3 ankle injury.
Davante Adams finally backed up a big game with another; 12 catches (giving him 25 in the past two games) for 74 yards and some snaps out of the backfield to offset the lack of a traditional running game, and Nelson finally made a big play deep (a 58-yarder for his longest catch since 2014).
“We did a lot of stuff out there, a lot of good production, especially given the situation with the running backs and things like that,” Adams said. “A lot of guys did a lot of things they haven’t done before and it’s like I said, there’s a lot of good in there.”
Most encouraging of all was Rodgers’ play. He scrambled for first downs, rushing for a career-high 60 yards on six attempts, and completed 28 of 38 passes to seven different receivers, threw for 246 yards and finished with a 125.5 passer rating.
“We’d love to get Jared back soon; obviously, Randall and Ty, getting those guys back would help,” Rodgers said. “Personally, I’m just really proud of those guys who made plays [Sunday]. We got Jordy going early with the big completion but we had three touchdown passes -- one each to Geronimo Allison, who wasn’t on the opening-day roster, to Trevor, who’s had limited opportunities, and Jeff Janis for the go-ahead touchdown. I’m just so proud of those guys and the way they battled.”