Another win in the books for the Packers against the Falcons to remain undefeated, but early on things looked tough. The defense let Atlanta march right down the field on their opening drive for a touchdown, then the offense turns the ball over, and the defense allows a second long drive that ends up spotting the Falcons a 14 point lead.
From then on it was all Packers, they cut the lead to 5 by halftime putting together 3 field goal drives, including a 56 yard field goal by Mason Crosby, tying his career long. In the second half Rodgers threw a long touchdown to James Jones, and a shorter one to Greg Jennings which involved a great run after the catch to get into the endzone. They tacked on another field goal late to finish off the scoring and the defense added two interceptions to seal the 25-14 victory.
Some things to take away from this game, Jermichael Finley had some key drops, including one that should have been a touchdown late in the first half. Mason Crosby has yet to miss a field goal this season. Aaron Rodgers had nearly 400 yards passing, hitting 12 different receivers, and could have had a lot more had he hit Jones on that deep pass on the opening drive. The defense was able to shut down the Falcons for 3 quarters while the offense fought their way back into the game. Derek Sherrod was forced into action when Chad Clifton left the game with an injured hamstring, forcing Newhouse to move from RT to LT. They both ended up playing well and depending on the status of Bulaga they both could be starting on Sunday.
We take on the Rams this week, a struggling team that features a few former Packers on their defense. This is a game that we should be able to put away quickly, allowing the offense to pad their stats and maybe get the backups some playing time, just like the Bronco game. As weird as it sounds, we might need to win this game to keep pace with Detroit, who faces a much tougher opponent in the 49ers. However there is every indication that we should go into our bye week at 7-0, obviously a good position to be in.
Since the Packers played on Sunday night last week, I decided to make a meal instead of a snack. Using my most recent issue of
Food Network Magazine
I decided to make Swedish meatballs, that are supposedly a copy of the ones that are served at IKEA.
For the meatballs you will need the following: 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2 TBS butter, half a white onion - minced, a quarter tsp allspice, salt and pepper, half a cup milk, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, three quarter pound lean ground beef, half pound lean ground pork, 1 egg plus 1 egg white beaten.
Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion, garlic, allspice, salt and pepper and stir until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the milk and Worcestershire and bring to a simmer. Add this to the breadcrumbs and mix until it forms a paste, allow to cool.
Add the meat and beaten eggs and mix until combined.
Roll the meat into 1 inch balls, I just used an ice cream scooper, place the meatballs on a greased cookie sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and bake the meatballs for 20 minutes.
For the gravy you will need 2 TBS butter, 2 TBS flour, one and a half cups beef broth, 1 tsp Worcestershire, a quarter cup heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, add the flour and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in the broth and Worcestershire and bring to a simmer. Add the cream and meatballs, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens, add salt and pepper to taste.
We served ours over egg noodles. It was quite delicious, enjoy.
FYI - Personally I didn't think there was enough gravy, when I make this again I would double or even triple the amount of gravy that the recipe calls for.
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