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Posted at 11:45 AM EST.

1:05 PM EST. "Hey Mike, Got a minute?" Unless you’ve been under a rock the past week, you’re aware that the Packers fired their head coach of the last 13 years after a listless effort led to a home loss to the 2-9 Cardinals. Given the results from the past year and the obvious tension between Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy, it was going to happen by the end of the season but the embarrassing loss accelerated that eventuality. Aaron Rodgers OC Joe Philbin is the interim head coach.

An unhappy Rodgers meant McCarthy had to go. The Packers quit on McCarthy and now a new era begins (life without McCarthy) and we’ll trust Rodgers to show his approval of the move with a strong performance here. After perhaps the most embarrassing home loss in close to three decades, a bounce back is in order. The Packers are not going to the playoffs and they’re playing for nothing but pride, thus, the market understandably appears reluctant to get behind them but we’re not. You see, this one is all about fading the Falcons and there are plenty of reasons to do that.

The Falcons offense has gone cold for the last month and they've suffered their worst losses in recent road games. The rushing effort continues to stumble and the passing game ends up as little more than searching for Julio Jones on every play. Atlanta’s 26-16 loss to Baltimore last week doesn’t look horrible on paper but it was so consider it one of the year’s most misleading scores. Atlanta racked up 131 yards of total offense (that’s not a typo). Kansas City for instance, usually racks up 131 yards in two plays. Atlanta was at home and Baltimore held an incredible 40 minutes to 20 minutes time of possession edge. Atlanta’s effort last week was perhaps the worst effort of the year by any team and now they are being asked to travel to frigid temperatures in Green Bay (game time projections are -3 Celsius or -11 Fahrenheit) to play their most meaningless game in a decade or more. Atlanta is usually making a push for the playoffs this time of year.

Finally, and again, Atlanta’s defense was on the field for 40 minutes last game, Even good defenses play poorly when they tire, and being worn out renders bad ones hopeless. Always be aware of whether the schedule helps or hinders freshness, the mental and physical toll of each game and the running "pitch count." Atlanta is dead team traveling while Aaron Rodgers had better come up with something because he’s the reason McCarthy was fired in Week 13.

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