When the Green Bay Packers lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the 2016 NFC Championship game, one of the biggest problems was stopping Matt Ryan and that high-powered Falcons offense. That caused the Packers to really work on retooling their defense for Dom Capers and if the Week 1 victory is any indication, the improvement might be enough to make the Packers almost unbeatable when the play up to their level.
As a matter of fact, the question when it comes to the Packers vs. Falcons rematch isn’t whether or not Green Bay can stop Atlanta’s offense and Matt Ryan.
The question now is whether or not the Falcons can do anything to stop defensive tackle Mike Daniels from disrupting that high-scoring offensive threat.
The Packers have a huge defensive superstar
After so many problems in 2016 stopping opposing quarterbacks, the Green Bay Packers have a nice weapon in their toolbox with Mike Daniels. The fourth-round draft pick from 2012 has always looked like he had the tools to succeed in the NFL. He has started every game since 2014 and logged 22 sacks over his first five seasons in the NFL.
Heading into the 2017 NFL season, Daniels was ranked 84th in the Top 100 NFL players of this season, proving that his contemporaries are starting to take notice of his talent.
That made his performance in Game 1 of the 2017 NFL season only slightly surprising.
Daniels is a huge talent on the Packers defense but his numbers against the Seattle Seahawks were almost Madden-worthy stats. Mike finished the game with 1.5 sacks of Russell Wilson and a number of other hits that kept the All-Pro quarterback off his game.
He also had seven tackles and forced a fumble. With that game, it looks like Daniels is setting out to prove in 2017 that he is one of the top pass rushers in the game.
Mike Daniels on the injury report
Of course, the Atlanta Falcons might have received a gift when it comes to the Week 2 injury report. Mike Daniels name was listed on the report when he was limited in practice on Thursday with a hip injury.
On the final injury report on Friday, the Green Bay Packers listed Daniels as questionable. Fellow defensive tackle Montravius Adams is also questionable for the week.
However, that might not matter too much. The Green Bay Packers need this win, which would be a huge statement win for the team as they try to pace the rest of the NFC on the way to the playoffs this season. A win over the Atlanta Falcons would surely make the Packers the favorites to reach the Super Bowl this season and if Mike Daniels can have a repeat of his Week 1 performance, the Falcons won’t be able to stop Daniels or the Packers this year.
