FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — In 2023, Atlanta ran the ball into a defensive box with eight or more defenders on 23.8 percent of its carries. In 2024, the Falcons are doing it 15.5 percent of the time.
Bijan Robinson can feel the difference.
“When you have wide receivers outside who can catch the football and you have Kirk (Cousins) who can dish it out to everybody … teams don’t play us with eight-man boxes too much,” said Robinson, Atlanta’s second-year running back. “They try to bring a safety down, but they are more spreading out, and that obviously helps your run game tremendously.”
That and more carries have helped Robinson this year. He has 167 carries for 783 rushing yards, which is 26 more carries and 80 more yards than he had a year ago at this time. On Sunday, he’ll be trying to add to that total against the Los Angeles Chargers while having a slightly different on-field look.
Week 13 is the first of the NFL’s two My Cause My Cleats weekends, during which players can wear custom footwear designed to highlight a charity. For Robinson, it will be his own charity, the Bijan Reads initiative that is part of his Bijan Robinson Foundation.
“There’s a super low rate of literacy in Atlanta with kids, and it’s something I really want to change,” Robinson said. “I think these kids should be having fun reading and learning with it.”
Only 41 percent of metro Atlanta third-graders are proficient in reading, according to the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation. Robinson’s goal through Bijan Reads is to start a book club, provide books for bedtime stories and send children bingo cards to track their reading progress.
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“We want to make it fun. That’s why we’re doing it the way we’re doing it,” Robinson said. “I want to give resources to the parents so the kids can get better and have fun with it and have a higher literacy rate.”
Robinson’s footwear Sunday was designed by 9-year-old Hudson Collier, whose idea won a contest sponsored by Bijan Reads and was completed by artist Marvin Baroota.
“He did a great job,” Robinson said.
The same could be said for Robinson up until a disappointing 35-yard effort against Denver two weeks ago. Headed into that game, Robinson had five straight games with more than 100 scrimmage yards and more rushing yards than expected, according to NextGenStats tracking.
Robinson credits improvements in his patience and understanding of the team’s blocking schemes along with the Falcons’ new offensive system for his success this season.
“I think it’s just me being more confident in the running game and really trusting the O-line,” he said. “It’s just me trusting those guys up there first. That’s been a really big thing for me. I got reps last year, but now getting as many as I have gotten, it definitely helps me and my confidence in what I need to do and how I am seeing things.”
A selection of the Falcons’ My Cause My Cleats footwear for Sunday’s game against the Chargers. pic.twitter.com/9ICqBFZzjR
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) November 27, 2024
Penalties are an offensive issue
If the Falcons defense gets tired of taking all the blame for the team’s two-game losing streak, it could point out that the offense is doing a lot more than its share on the penalty front. Atlanta has been flagged for 65 penalties, the ninth fewest in the NFL.
The offense is guilty of the vast majority — 40. That’s the 11th-most offensive penalties in the league. The defense has committed 18, the third fewest among defenses, and the special teams have contributed seven, the sixth fewest among special teams units.
“The self-inflicted wounds for the offense are what have killed us,” Morris said. “There’s no way you can look at the yardage we’ve gained in any of these games and say, ‘These guys clearly lost that game.’ That’s not the case.”
Atlanta is 17th in the league when measured by expected points lost to offensive penalties (21.39), according to TruMedia. The Falcons can decrease that number with greater “discipline and concentration,” Morris said.
Still searching for Matthew Judon’s role
The Falcons were expecting more from outside linebacker Matthew Judon when they sent a 2025 third-round pick to New England in exchange for him in August, Morris acknowledged.
“I can’t sit here and tell you we’ve gotten what we wanted out of him,” Morris said. “We’re looking for more, and I know he is also.”
Judon, who ranks 171st among 187 qualified defenders in pressure percentage in the last month (3.4 percent), is tied for 119th in the league in sacks (2.5).
“You have to keep trying new tactics,” Morris said. “We have done different things, limiting spots he is playing, making it specialized when you’re going out there, trying to make the player the most effective he can be. We will continue to do those things. We will continue to push him as far as we can take him to get the production that he wants and that we want.”
Judon, who has 69 career sacks, has “still got it in there,” Morris said.
“It’s a process when you go to a new team,” the coach said. “You have to fight through some stuff. You have to find a way. We have six games that are guaranteed on our schedule, and I am looking forward to him really being a contributing factor down the stretch here.”
Closer to full strength
The Falcons could have all six active players who missed the Denver game back in the lineup against Los Angeles. Cornerbacks Dee Alford (hamstring), Mike Hughes (neck) and Antonio Hamilton Sr. (pectoral), linebackers Troy Andersen (knee) and JD Bertrand (concussion) and tight end Charlie Woerner (concussion) all returned to practice in some capacity this week.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who sat out the second half against the Broncos due to an Achilles injury, also was back on the practice field.
“He’s looking good, he’s feeling good,” Morris said of Mooney. “I feel really good about where he is and what he can do. It was great to get him a rest week.”
Morris expects center Drew Dalman to return to the starting lineup against Los Angeles. Dalman began the year as Atlanta’s starting center before going on the injured list due to an ankle injury. He was active against Denver but did not play.
Renaissance man
Cousins’ favorite part of his off week appeared to be seeing “Wicked” with his wife and two young sons. A member of his high school swing choir and a big fan of musical theater, Cousins knows all the words for the music.
“I was singing along. I was kind of waiting for my wife to nudge me to stop doing that, but when Elphaba goes into ‘The Wizard and I,’ it’s hard not to, and ‘Defying Gravity’ it’s hard not to,” he said.
Cousins is such a fan of musicals that he still goes to the production put on by his hometown theater every summer.
“I’ve seen them all, but my OG is ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’” he said. “My mom took me to Chicago, got us seats in the fourth row when I was 7 years old and we saw Donny Osmond as Joseph. That’s the one I want to show my boys, but it’s not as common anymore. Maybe I can make a big enough donation to the performing arts center in my hometown that I can dictate what musical they have.”
(Photo: Jay Bendlin / Atlanta Falcons)
