By Josh Kendall, Joe Buscaglia and Mike Wilson
An 81-yard touchdown run highlighted Bijan Robinson’s huge night and helped propel the Atlanta Falcons to a 24-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Robinson matched his career high with 170 yards (on 19 carries). His 81-yard score — the longest touchdown play of his three-year career — pushed the Falcons’ lead to 21-7 less than four minutes into the second quarter.
The Bills (4-2) scored on their first drive of each half but otherwise failed to snap the ball inside the Falcons’ 45-yard line until their final, desperation possession when they trailed by 10 in the final minutes.
After Monday’s loss to the Falcons (3-2), the Bills are 0-2 against teams with winning records through Week 6 (they lost to the Patriots last week). The four teams the Bills have defeated — the Ravens, Jets, Dolphins and Saints — have a combined record of 3-21.
The Bills committed eight penalties after getting called for 11 in each of their previous two games. An offsides penalty on the first snap negated a fumble recovery by Bills cornerback Christian Benford. The Falcons exploited the mistake by driving for a touchdown.
Robinson, who entered Week 6 leading the NFL in scrimmage yards at 146 per game, matched the 170 yards he gained in Week 18 of 2024, when the Falcons ended the season with an overtime loss to the Panthers. He added 68 yards on six receptions Monday.
Ironman Jake Matthews out in second half
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews entered the game with the league’s longest active starting streak. He opened his 183rd consecutive game Monday night, but he did not play in the second half due to an ankle injury. He is the third Atlanta tackle to be injured this season. Right tackle Kaleb McGary was lost for the season in the preseason and third-string tackle Storm Norton has yet to play this year due to a foot injury.
The result is that the Falcons played the second half with their fourth- and fifth-string offensive tackles. Elijah Wilkinson has manned the right tackle position all season, and Michael Jerrell replaced Matthews. Jerrell, a former sixth-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks, was acquired in a training camp trade.
Matthews talked to The Athletic about his starting streak this week, crediting good family genes. His father, Bruce Matthews, played 19 seasons in the NFL.
“I think I’d do a disservice if I didn’t start by saying just my family,” he said. “God has blessed us with an ability to heal and recover and play a game like this where you take a beating and just find a way to keep coming back.” — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
Robinson puts on MVP-like performance
Playing across the field from reigning MVP Josh Allen, Atlanta’s Robinson put in an MVP-caliber performance of his own. He finished with a career-high 238 yards from scrimmage, falling one short of matching the most scrimmage yards in a game this season. Carolina’s Rico Dowdle had a 239-yard game Sunday.
Robinson said this week that he never lobbies for more work in the offense. Not that he needs to.
“The goal for me is to be the best I can be for the offense,” Robinson said. “To be a threat at receiver, at running back, just anywhere I am lined up. Hopefully, it makes the defense confused, and it opens up something for Drake (London) and Ray-Ray (McCloud).”
Speaking of London, he added 10 catches for 158 yards. — Kendall
Ulbrich’s experience helps
Atlanta defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has plenty of experience against Allen after they shared four years in the AFC East, and the Falcons were the beneficiaries of that Monday night.
Atlanta was aggressive against Allen and finished with four sacks and six quarterback hurries and a game-sealing interception while holding Buffalo to 291 yards, much of which was gained on the final drive. — Kendall
Falcons’ duo too much for Bills
The Bills could not have had a worse start to this game, making it somewhat of a miracle that they were in it right down to the last moments. The defense allowed 299 yards … to only two players … in the first half. It was as bad as it sounds.
They had no answers for Robinson or London, even with a better showing in the second half. In total, the pair accrued 396 yards while the rest of the Falcons’ skill players had 64.
The Bills had plenty of questions on defense entering the game — certainly more when starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones was ruled out before kickoff due to an injury in warmups — and now have even more heading into their bye week.
The Bills’ offense, to put it bluntly, looked like a shell of itself. For a team that averaged 30-plus points through the first four games, Buffalo has managed only 34 over the past two games and looked hapless outside of its opening drives of both halves. The Bills had a big problem at wide receiver entering the game, and an in-game injury to Joshua Palmer made the problem worse.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was calling all the wrong notes after the defense gave Buffalo’s offense one opportunity after another to try to tie the game. The Bills could never get there, and Allen was fuming on the sideline after a missed opportunity in the second half.
On Buffalo’s last possession, Allen threw an interception to end the game. The once-explosive Bills have gone missing and now have some soul-searching to do in their bye week. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer