San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
ATLANTA - In a tale of two halves, the San Francisco 49ers held on to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 17-14. The 49ers (5-1) came out hot in the first half and built a 17-0 lead. However, the offense fell flat in the second half, letting the Falcons (2-4) back into the game.
After two 4th-quarter Atlanta touchdowns, San Francisco found themselves in a high pressure situation. However, a methodical drive down to the two-yard line ate up much of the clock forcing Atlanta to burn its timeouts. The strategy almost worked as the Falcons forced a 4th and one situation. Rather than kick the field goal to go up six and give Atlanta the ball back, Coach Kyle Shanahan opted to go for it and try to run our the clock. The strategy worked as San Francisco picked us the first and ran out the clock.
"The numbers guys told me it was the way to go." Shanahan said.
San Francisco now heads home to host the Kansas City Chiefs.
New York Jets @ Green Bay Packers
GREEN BAY - Down starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa another week, the Green Bay Packers struggled their way to a 13-13 tie with the winless New York Jets (0-5-1) in the pouring rain. Backup duties went to Drew Lock this week and it was more of the same struggles as in week five. Locke missed multiple open receivers and was unable to get the offense past mid-field most of the game.
"We have to be better," Coach Matt La Fleur said. "At the end of the day, this was a home game against a winless opponent. If we want to achieve our goals, this isn't going to cut it."
For Green Bay (4-1-1) it felt like they could have easily walked away with a win or a loss. With time expiring in the 4th, Green Bay decided to kick the tying field goal on 1st and goal from the two with 11 seconds left rather than try and get one more play in. However, on the other side, the New York defense dropped multiple potential interceptions off Lock in the rain. A few of them that could have easily been pick-sixes.
"Man, it was like we had oven mitts on or something," Sauce Gardner said. "That ball was hard to hold on to, like a hot pocket fresh out of the oven."
Green Bay should have Tagovailoa back next week as they travel to take on the 5-1 Washington Commanders.
