Bijan Robinson’s 55-yarder against the Green Bay Packers in week three was the play that turned the game. It came on first down after a roughing the passer penalty on edge rusher Brenton Cox on third down that would have forced the Falcons to punt and given the Packers another chance to add to their 7-0 lead.
The Packers took a 7-0 lead when Christian Watson came uncovered on a play-action pass with 5:13 left in the first quarter. Penix had also thrown an interception on Atlanta’s opening drive, so the Falcons’
offense looked out of sync.
The drive that included the run nearly stalled too. Atlanta started at its own 15 and picked up a first down on an 8-yard pass to Kyle Pitts and a 6-yard Robinson run, but Lukas Van Ness forced Penix into an intentional grounding penalty that left Atlanta facing third-and-11. That was a likely punt situation, and Green Bay’s defense was winning. Instead, Brenton Cox Jr. was called for unnecessary roughness, which gave the Falcons a first down.
Atlanta capitalized right away. On the very next snap, Robinson broke a 55-yard run to the Green Bay 5. The timing mattered as much as the yardage.
A defense that has just given away a first down on a penalty is often a step slow to reset, and Robinson turned that moment into a huge gain. Going from backed up at the 15 to first-and-goal at the 5 within a couple of plays was the biggest field-position swing of the first half.
The play call from Atlanta was an outside zone run concept to the offense’s left side behind their tight end Charlie Woerner and Drake London in tight to the formation.
The Packers countered the Falcons formation with a 5-2 front and two deep safeties behind it. Playing two deep safeties versus the run is risky but the Packers have been excellent defending the run from two high shells the last couple of seasons and Gannon specializes in it.
In fact, the Packers had it bottled up really well initially. Edgerrin Cooper (No. 56) is the edge setter on this play as the defensive end backdoor slants inside. Cooper is the spill/force player responsible for spilling the ball back inside.
Zaire Franklin (No. 44) is the back side leverage player who’s job it is to clean up any open gap and the run if it spills back inside. On the perimeter, Brandon Cisse (No. 2) is the front side leverage player and secondary force.
As Cooper comes down, Woerner blocks him and pancakes him to the ground. Cooper plays the inside shoulder and leaves Cisse on an island if Robinson bounces outside. Sure enough he does as Franklin moves with Robinson’s movement and flashes color in the gaps.
Cisse dives for the tackle and misses. The rookie did not have a great night. A tackle here would have went for a one or two yard gain.
Poor gap responsibility ultimately doomed the defense on this play.
Robinson later scored on a 3-yard run two plays later, tying the game at 7 with 1:32 left in the first quarter. From there, Atlanta took over. The Falcons scored 27 straight points, turning a 7-0 deficit into a 27-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
The run was also the first sign of how the night would go on the ground. Robinson finished with 194 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, one yard short of his career high of 195 set against the Rams in 2025. Green Bay managed almost nothing running the ball by comparison. The Packers ran nine times for just 17 yards.
