Falcons, Bijan Robinson Handle, Harass Josh Allen, Bills In 24-14 Monday Night Victory

ATLANTA — On the very first play on Monday night, the very first time he touched the ball, Bijan Robinson — maybe the best running back in the NFL, certainly the best in Falcons history — fumbled right into Buffalo’s hands. One play, one turnover, and just like that Buffalo and all its thousands of fans in Mercedes-Benz Stadium had all the momentum on their side.

Ain’t no way I fumbled on the first play, Robinson told himself. And then, because he’s a man of faith, he turned to God. “Lord,” Robinson prayed, “get me through this, get me through this play.”

You can decide for yourself if the Lord was watching the Bills-Falcons game. What’s indisputable is this: a defensive offsides penalty nullified the fumble, and given a second chance, the Falcons quickly scored the first of their three first-half touchdowns en route to a 24-14 victory over the Bills.

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And Robinson, well … he held onto the ball a little better. He finished the night with 25 touches, 238 total yards receiving and rushing, and one absolutely spectacular touchdown:

“It always feels like he's going to break one of those every time he touches the ball, so it was nice for him to finally get one,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said after the game. “We’ve been waiting for that moment.”

This was a game that changed a whole lot of early-season perceptions about both teams. Nine days ago, the Bills were undefeated, a dead-bang lock for the No. 1 seed in the AFC and ready to charge through that still-open Super Bowl window. Two games ago, the Falcons were left for dead after losing 30-0 to the lowly-at-the-time Carolina Panthers.

Now, after the 24-14 Atlanta victory, the Bills are looking surprisingly vulnerable, and the Falcons are looking surprisingly solid. These perceptions, too, might not hold, but for now, Atlanta looks like a team on the rise, and Buffalo like a team facing unexpected questions.

Coming into the game, the Bills were still looking to repair the damage from losing their pristine undefeated record last week at the hands of the Patriots. The Falcons, coming off a bye, needed to prove to the league, their fans and probably themselves that they weren’t just the same-old, same-old underachievers.

And they would need to do it in front of a massive, and loud, contingent of Bills fans. Atlanta is always a destination for traveling fanbases from Pittsburgh to Dallas — the city is easy to reach by air, and the team is often, shall we say, accommodating to its visiting opponents.

The Falcons, who haven’t reached the playoffs since the 2017 season, played one of their finest halves in years to start the game. Robinson keyed the offense, breaking open holes and shucking off Buffalo defenders all over the field.

“When I find those creases, you got to take advantage of it, and you got to make those guys miss tackles and make them not want to be there anymore,” Robinson said. “So that's what we did tonight.”

With Robinson dealing on the inside, Michael Penix Jr. had the freedom to throw downfield. Drake London caught a Penix pass just shy of the end zone, and reeeeeached out to break the plane:

London came within a footstep of a second touchdown on the final play of the first half, stepping out of bounds while diving for the pylon. Even so, Atlanta took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, and the many Bills fans under the open roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium were a whole lot more nervous than they thought they’d be.

Josh Allen led Buffalo on touchdown drives to start both halves. But the reigning MVP was pressured all night, the Falcons establishing a harassing defense they’ve lacked for years. Buffalo went three-and-out four times, Allen again and again unable to break contain. He was sacked four times and intercepted twice on the night, finishing with 180 yards passing on 15 of 26 attempts.

With all due respect to Allen, this was a night where Robinson fully assumed NFL stardom. Robinson spends some time before each game studying a different running back from the past, and Monday, he dug in on some old Adrian Peterson Oklahoma tape. (This was a significant sacrifice for a player from Texas.) What he observed was Peterson’s ability to run downhill and overwhelm defenders, and that’s exactly what Robinson delivered on Monday night. It’s the kind of performance that wins admirers, including some notable ones:

“Just another great game,” Robinson smiled after the game. “I wish I could tell you I rank games and stuff, but this is just a game for me to make my team win and help my team win.”

After Monday night, it’s clear that neither of these two teams is who we thought they were. The Bills remain a very good team, certainly one of the best in the league, but with some visible and exploitable flaws. Atlanta, meanwhile, has managed to find a new gear, as evidenced by their contained, controlled final drive that bled out all three of Buffalo's timeouts, and soon afterward, a game-ending interception, the second of the night for Allen.

“We want to be a playoff organization, we want to be able to go compete in those type of games. We played one tonight,” Morris said. “Those are the things you dream about from a coaching standpoint, a playing standpoint, an ownership standpoint.”

The Falcons now travel to face San Francisco before meeting two more AFC East opponents in Miami and New England. Buffalo, meanwhile, gets a week off before facing the Panthers, followed by yet another marquee matchup with the Chiefs to start November.

Both teams learned a few lessons Monday night; it'll be on each of them to turn that knowledge into victories in the coming weeks.