The Falcons have had their share of success playing in Green Bay over the years. Their most impressive victory was in the opening round of the playoffs on Jan. 4, 2003 when they became the first team to ever defeat the Packers in a postseason game at Lambeau Field with a 27-7 win.
Green Bay holds a slim 13-12 margin in the regular season series but Atlanta has captured two of the last three contests.
The two teams played some games in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in this series because the Packers would have four home games each season at old Milwaukee County Stadium, home of the Major League baseball's Milwaukee Brewers at the time, so fans in that area could attend games. The first two contests in this series in 1966 and 1967 actually took place in Milwaukee. The Falcons also played the last game ever in Milwaukee as the Packers stopped the tradition following the 1994 season and started scheduling all games at Lambeau Field moving forward.
One other little known fact was when the games took place in Milwaukee in this series both team's benches were on the same side of the field (because of the baseball configured stadium).
The Birds' last trip to Green Bay was successful as new head coach Mike Smith and rookie QB Matt Ryan earned their first road wins of their careers in 27-24 victory on October 5, 2008.
On November 18, 2001, Atlanta opened the second half of its season at Green Bay and looking to turn the corner on a .500 record.
On the second play of the game, CB Ashley Ambrose delivered some early foreshadowing of the way things would go as he intercepted a QB Brett Favre pass. The Falcons would force two other turnovers in the first half to help stake them to a 16-10 lead. FB Bob Christian highlighted the Falcons scoring early as he hauled in a short swing pass out of the backfield and broke several tackles on his way to a 21-yard touchdown to finish off an 11-play, 79-yard drive for Atlanta's lone touchdown of the opening half.
The Birds managed two strong marches deep in Packers territory in the third quarter, but each time threw interceptions to thwart potential scoring drives.
Midway through the fourth though, WR Brian Finneran was on the receiving end of a 12-yard scoring strike to increase the lead to 23-13. Favre connected with WR Antonio Freeman from 39-yards out to close the gap to three points with 6:31 remaining. After shutting Atlanta down, Green Bay took over with 1:52 left to try to pull out the win.
The Packers potential game-winning drive stalled at the Falcons 45-yard line on the heels of a staunch defensive effort and Favre's desperation heave into the end zone was picked off by Ambrose to clinch the win 23-20.
Atlanta edged Green Bay in just about every statistical category, including total yards (417 to 313), first downs (25 to 14), and time of possession (36:25 to 23:35). The defense was stalwart claiming four takeaways on three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
