Peeling back the layers of Bijan Robinson’s usage in Monday Night Football win

There was a theme in these successful plays, did you see it? Everyone at every level of the offense was involved. Whether it was Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Ray-Ray McCloud or the entire Falcons offensive line, the Atlanta run game is at its best when assignments are upheld, even if its just slowing a defender down here or there by getting in between them and the ball carrier. Robinson is a special talent, yes. But as we saw against Pittsburgh, if he is getting hit at or behind the line of scrimmage, there’s little even he can do. These plays are evidence of what Robinson can do when you give him an extra step here, another hole there. It can be important for the Falcons in their pursuit of offensive success.

As the Falcons chased the Eagles to the very end after establishing the run in the first half, my Twitter was inundated with the same question over and over again: “Tori, why did the Falcons stop running the ball?” or better yet, “Bijan is averaging over six yards a carry. Give him the ball!”

Well, I am here to tell you there are a few reasons why the Falcons went away from the run in the second half. Long story short, they didn’t.

For starters, they went to Robinson on four straight plays to open the second half. Two designed runs that yielded 24 rushing yards and two pass plays that resulted in a total pickup of 20 yards. So, there was that.

Then, their second drive saw the pass game come alive once the Falcons converted a crucial fourth down play from Cousins to McCloud to set up a 42-yard catch-and-run by Darnell Mooney. However, they had to start worrying about the clock when they found themselves down 18-15 after a 17-play Eagles drive that took over nine minutes of time off the clock in the fourth quarter. Still, though, it wasn’t like they went away from the run thereafter, either. The Falcons went back to Robinson on their first-down play to begin their second-to-last drive. It was a run that didn’t go much of anywhere, though, and only yielded a yard. Then, on fourth-and-one, CJ Gardner-Johnson just made a good play, stuffing Robinson before he reached the first-down marker.

By the time the Falcons got the ball back, there was 1:39 on the clock and they were down 21-15 and couldn’t run the ball. In the end, though, Cousins’ and Co. came through in the pass game to secure the win.

Monday’s game showed viewers that the Falcons’ run game is something to watch…