The Atlanta Falcons may have turned the corner last week during their road win over the Green Bay Packers. Michael Penix's performance at quarterback deserves a lot of the credit, but the upset victory was made possible by the ridiculous production they got on the ground from superstar running back Bijan Robinson.
Heading into this week's matchup with the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, the Falcons' game-plan on offense should be simple: ride the lightning and keep giving the ball to No. 7.
Not only is Robinson coming off one of the best games of his NFL career, he has established himself as one of the greatest prime-time performers in league history. No other player in almost 50 years has averaged more yards from scrimmage in prime-time games than
Robinson.
If that's not enough to convince the Falcons to ride a run-heavy attack against the Saints, this should close the deal: New Orleans has one of the league's worst run defenses so far this season.
It's a small sample size but through three games the Saints are allowing 128.7 yards per game on the ground. Only five other teams are giving up more each week.
New Orleans also ranks 26th in fantasy points allowedto opposing running backs, surrendering 347 yards and four touchdowns on the ground plus another 109 yards to running backs as receivers. That comes out to 24.4 fantasy points per game.
Football is an exceedingly complicated sport, but sometimes the answer is obvious and the Falcons shouldn't overthink it.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons Week 4 X-factor: Bijan Robinson vs. Saints defense
