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          Packers had Jordy Nelson but were missing much more in loss to Falcons

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          • Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterJan 17, 2017, 03:40 PM ET
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              Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
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          GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers had Jordy Nelson for their Week 8 regular-season game against Atlanta and still lost.

          So it’s worth wondering how they will fare in Sunday's NFC Championship Game in Atlanta if they don’t have Nelson, who according to a source is a long shot to play this week.

          But here are a couple of factors to consider:

          • They functioned just fine without Nelson last Sunday against Dallas, thanks in large part to the likes of Randall Cobb, Jared Cook and Ty Montgomery.

          • And in the regular-season meeting with the Falcons, they didn’t have any one of those three available, yet still led in the final four minutes only to fall 33-32 on a last-minute touchdown.

          Cobb was inactive for the Oct. 30 game at the Georgia Dome because of a hamstring injury. That opened the door for Geronimo Allison, whose first NFL catch was a 4-yard touchdown in the second quarter of that game. Allison also filled in more than adequately for Cobb late in the season, when Cobb missed the final two games of the regular season because of an ankle injury.

          After Nelson suffered his rib injury in the wild-card win against the Giants, Cobb took off with three touchdown catches. Although he didn’t have a touchdown against the Cowboys, he led the Packers with seven receptions (for 62 yards).

          Montgomery didn’t play against the Falcons while he dealt with an illness related to sickle cell trait, and the Packers had little in the way of a traditional running game that day. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers led them in rushing with six attempts for 60 yards.

          Against the Cowboys, Montgomery rushed for 47 yards on 11 attempts and scored a pair of touchdowns, becoming the first Packers running back with multiple rushing touchdowns in a playoff game since Ryan Grant in the 2007 divisional round.

          Cook didn’t play against the Falcons because it was during the six-game stretch he missed because of an ankle injury. His presence in the offense has been huge, and not just because he caught the 36-yard sideline pass against the Cowboys with 3 seconds left to set up the game-winning field goal. Cook caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.

          This season, Rodgers' QBR is 13 points higher -- and he's averaging 2 more yards per attempt -- with Cook on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information.