One week after Kirk Cousins set a team and personal record by throwing for 509 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-30 overtime win against Tampa Bay, the Atlanta Falcons showed they could also achieve impressive numbers on the ground.
This balance is encouraging for the Falcons as they aim to end their six-year playoff drought.
With Bijan Robinson rushing for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and Tyler Allgeier adding 105 yards and one score, the Falcons finished their first half of games in the NFC South with a 38-20 victory at Carolina on Sunday.
The Falcons (4-2) are keeping up with Tampa Bay at the top of the division, marking their third straight win against an NFC South opponent.
While Cousins’ record-setting passing performance last week will be hard to match for the new Falcons under first-year coach Raheem Morris, the strong running game showed that the offense is versatile.
Morris couldn’t highlight just one running back after the game, so he gave the game ball to the offensive line instead. This was appropriate, as Cousins was not sacked while throwing for 225 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Robinson averaged 6.3 yards per carry, and Allgeier averaged 5.8 yards.
“We went out last week and they gave us the pass and we threw the ball a bunch,” Morris said. “This week we got out and we got a chance to establish the run and we went out and did it. We did it with a nice one-two punch with Tyler and Bijan. The O-line really took a lot of credit, took a lot of pride in that.”
