Eight months after a battered, overmatched Green Bay Packers squad took a 44-21 beating in the NFC Championship Game, it appeared they would finally receive their chance to face off with the Atlanta Falcons at or near full strength Sunday night while spoiling the grand opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Those aspirations quickly dissipated as a cavalcade of Green Bay's most important players exited with injuries.
In truth, the twin absences of offensive tackles David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga likely sank the team's chances before the opening kickoff. The Packers worked around the limitations of missing just Bulaga a week ago in an impressive win over the Seattle Seahawks, but playing with a first-time starter at left tackle (Kyle Murphy) and a player making his NFL regular-season debut on the right (Justin McCray) immediately changed whatever offensive plan Mike McCarthy and the coaching staff had in mind for Sunday.