On December 1, 1991, the Falcons would live up to that motto in thier game with the Green Bay Packers.
The Falcons entered the game in rare territory as they stood at 7-5 and were in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs, a place they hadn't been since the 1982 season.
Under second-year head coach Jerry Glanville, the Falcons had become a team full of big personalities including all-pro cornerback Deion "Prime Time" Sanders.
But what had put the Falcons in the playoff race was thier ability to win the close games as three of thier seven wins had been 4th quarter comebacks, including the week before when kicker Norm Johnson kicked a 50-yard field goal in overtime to defeat the eventual NFC West Champion New Orleans Saints.
While the Falcons were competing for a playoff spot, the Packers were competing for a high draft pick as the team entered the game in Atlanta with a 3-10 record and rumors swirling that head coach Lindy Infante would be fired as the Packers had hired Ron Wolf as the team's new general manager just four days before the team's trip to Atlanta.
Mike Tomczak would be getting his 4th start in a row as starting quarterback Don Majikowski was out with a pulled hamstring, but the Falcons would also be going with thier backup quarterback in Billy Joe Tolliver as starter Chris Miller had spend the preivous evening tossing and turning in bed with the flu.
Miller arrived at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium with a 102-degree fever and would spend the first half in a sweat suit as his Falcons took the field.
The Packers got the ball to start the game but on the third play from scrimmage, Tomczak was sacked by Falcons linebacker Darion Conner, forcing a fumble that was recovered by fellow linebacker Jesse Tuggle, to give the Atlanta offense the ball at the Green Bay 22-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Falcons were in the end zone as Erric Pegram scored on a four-yard touchdown run to give Atlanta a 7-0 lead just 2:43 into the game.
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| Mike Tomczak loses the football after he his sacked by Falcons linebacker Darion Conner on the third play of the game. |
The Packers responded with a 13-play, 78-yard drive that had Tomczak complete seven of 10 passes for 73 yards, the last completion being a four-yard touchdown to Sharpe, one play after cornerback Tim McKyer was called for pass intereference on an incomplete pass on 3rd down, giving the Packers a 1st-and-goal at the four and for Tomczak to connect with Sterling Sharpe to help tie the game 7-7 with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
The game was still tied as the second quarter began with the Packers having the ball at their 30-yard-line.
The Falcons' defense seemed to have the Packers on the verge of a punt as Green Bay faced a a 3rd-and-14 at the Packers' 40-yard-line until Tomczak connected with Erik Affholter for 20 yards to give the Packers a 1st down at the Falcons' 40-yard-line.
The very next play, Tomczak handed the ball off to running back Darrell Thompson, who burst through a huge hole provided by left tackle Louis Cheek and proceed to run for a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a 14-7, almost two minutes into the second quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Packers' defense forced a turnover when linebacker Burnell Dent deflected a Tolliver pass that landed in the hands of defensive end Robert Brown, who returned the interception 37 yards to give the Green Bay offense the ball at the Falcons' 16-yard-line.
Following a three-yard run by Thompson, Tomczak found Perry Kemp in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to increase the Packers' lead to 21-7 with 8:26 left in the first half.
Tolliver could not get the Falcons going in the first half as he completed only eight of 19 passes for 95 yards as the Falcons went into the halftime break trailing 21-7.
During the halftime break, Glanville asked if Miller was well enough to go into the game.
After receving two bags of IV solution, Miller got into his uniform and took the field to star the second half.
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| Darrell Thompson(39) ran for 93 yards on 18 carries, including a 40-yard touchdown run. |
The Falcons received the ball to start the second half from their 15-yard-line, as Miller started the drive off as hot as his body temperature as he completed a nine-yard pass to Michael Haynes, followed by a 28-yard completion to Mike Pritchard to put the Falcons in Packers territory at the Green Bay 48-yard-line.
Then on 3rd-and-5 from the 43-yard-line, Miller try to connect with Haynes on a deep pass, only to have Packers cornerback Vinnie Clark interfered, giving the Falcons a 1st-and-goal at the six-yard-line.
The next two plays would be runs by Steve Broussard, with the last one being for a three-yard touchdown run that cut the Packers lead in half to 21-14 with 11:27 left in the third quarter.
After both teams traded punts, the Packers began a drive from their 34-yard-line as Tomczak completed all three of his passes on the nine play drive which ended with Tomczak finding Sharpe in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to push the Green Bay lead back to two touchdowns at 28-14.
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| Despite a high fever, Falcons quarterback Chris Miller come off the bench and completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards and two touchdown passes in the second half. |
Desperating needing a touchdown, the Falcons drove from their 27-yard-line to the Packers 38 yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-10.
Knowing a 55-yard field goal would only make it 28-17, Glanville decided to go for the 1st down and got it when Miller hit Rison for a 18-yard gain to give the Falcons a 1st down at the Green Bay 20-yard-line.
On the very next play, Miller hit Rison on a seam pattern as Rison made the catch at the four-yard-line and then ran in to complete the 18-yard touchdown that brought the Falcons back to within a touchdown at 28-21 with 9:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Then on the ensuing kickoff, Packers kick returner Charles Wilson lost the football when he was hit by Falcons defensive back Elbert Shelly, forcing a fumble that was picked up by teammate Joe Fishback, who returned the fumble for a 16-yard touchdown to erase the 14-point deficit in just 11 seconds as Atlanta tied the game at 28 with 9:37 left in regulation.
With thier 14-point lead gone, the Packers began their next drive at their 18-yard-line but quickly responded with a 23-yard pass from Tomczak to Sharpe to begin the drive.
A few plays later, the Packers were faced with a 3rd-and-nine at the Falcons' 33-yard-line, Tomczak connected with Kemp for a 20-yard completion to give Green Bay a 1st down at the Atlanta 13-yard-line.
The Falcons defense would only permit three more yards, forcing Chris Jacke to come on and kick a 27-yard field goal which put Green Bay back ahead 31-28 with 3:21 left in regulation.
On their ensuing possession, the Falcons drove from their 22-yard-line to the Packers' 27-yard-line where they faced with a 3rd-and-6.
That is when Miller fired a pass for George Thomas, who had beaten Packers cornerback LeRoy Butler, and was wide open in the end zone.
But the pass was a little bit past Thomas, who had to make a diving attempt to catch the ball.
Thomas got his hands on the ball but when he hit the ground, the ball came out making the pass incomplete and preventing the go-ahead touchdown for Atlanta.
Johnson came on to attempt on the game-tying 45-yard field goal, but back-to-back false start penalties pushed the Falcons back 10 yards forcing Glanville to forego the potential field goal and instead go for the 1st down.
But Miller's 4th down pass intended for Haynes fell incomplete, the Packers got the ball at their 37-yard-line with 1:46 left and a chance to run out the clock.
Two straight runs forced the Falcons to burn their last two timeouts.
Then inexlicapby on 3rd down, Tomczak tried to pass, which he threw incomplete, stopping the clock and giving the Falcons more time on the clock as the Packers were set to punt.
But the worst was yet to come for the Packers as punter Paul McJulin dropped the snap and was tackled out of bounds at the Falcons' 37-yard-line, giving Atlanta the ball with a short field and 1:22 left on the clock to try and get a score.
The Packers were able to sack Miller on 1st down, dropping him for a four-yard loss, which was followed by a 10-yard pass from Miller to Pritchard to set up 3rd-and-4 at the 31-yard-line when Miller hit Rison for a 21-yard gain to give Atlanta a 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard-line.
That is when Rison crossed the middle on a seam pattern to the end zone where he was open for Miller to throw him the game-winning touchdown pass with 41 seconds to give the Falcons a 35-31 win and their fourth win of the season when trailing at any point in the 4th quarter.
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| Andre Rison caught eight passes for 124 passes, two of them for touchdowns, including the game winner with 41 seconds left. |
The loss seeemed to seal Infante's fate as he was fired after the season where the Packers finished 4-12.
Wolf would go out and hire San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren and then make a trade for his quarterback of the future, who ironically sat on the Falcons' bench during this game, in Brett Favre.
The pair of Favre and Holmgren would help bring the Packers to power as five years later the Packers were Super Bowl champions.
As for the Falcons they would finish the regular season 10-6 to earn thier first trip to the playoffs since 1982 and then went on to win their second playoff game in team history when they defeated the Saints 27-20 in the Wild Card Round, thanks to a 61-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Haynes late in the game.
However, the Falcons' season came to an end the following week at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins as they lost 24-7, ending thier memorable season.
But the Falcons could not recapture the magic of the 91 season the next two seasons as they went 6-10 in both seasons, leading to the firing of Glanville as head coach and the departures of Miller and Sanders.
But the legacy of that 1991 Falcons team is fondly remembered as it was the most fun team in NFL history by the NFL Network.
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