Robinson runs rampant in Falcons’ dominant display

Most would’ve been displeased upon finding out that Week 3 kicked off in Green Bay with the Packers hosting the Atlanta Falcons, who both entered off very underwhelming starts to their seasons.

Green Bay managed to survive a major scare in New York against the Jets to at least get a win on the board, while Atlanta suffered one of the most embarassing defeats in franchise history, being blown off the park by the Carolina Panthers. They did benefit from the return of Michael Penix Jr. coming into this game, however, who loomed as a major upgrade on Cooper Rush after his nightmare couple of weeks.

However, after all the promise that had been delivered to Falcons fans with the return of their first-round-pick quarterback, Penix Jr. took just 87 seconds to turn the ball over, being picked off by Xavier McKinney – already the 6th interception thrown by an Atlanta quarterback this season.

Matthew Golden gave the home crowd some life on a cold night at Lambeu Field, hauling in a 45-yard catch to kickstart a drive that saw the Packers hit the scoreboard first, as Christian Watson found the end zone for the 4th time this season, tying the league’s lead.

A positive response for the Falcons came in the way most would expect, as Bijan Robinson made his mark on the game by breaking loose for a massive gain on the ground, which helped see Atlanta into the redzone for the first time this season. He got the reward too, levelling the scores with a touchdown of his own.

Offense quickly became difficult to generate for both sides, but the Falcons gained some momentum in the first half’s latter stages. After Nick Folk knocked through a field goal to give them the lead, a big play on special teams saw Trey Smack’s attempted field goal blocked, which handed the away team the field position they needed to compile a touchdown drive on the stroke of halftime, which was completed through an unlikely source in Austin Hooper, as they led 17-7 heading into the locker room.

The Packers had no choice but to begin the third quarter with some form of points, but after a promising drive got them to Atlanta’s 7-yard line, a failed decision to go for it on 4th and 1 left them empty-handed, as concerns of a highly unlikely upset really began to legitimise among the cheeseheads.

Things went from bad to worse, with Green Bay’s defense simply having no answers to the dominant Robinson, who broke another big run before handing the reigns to his running mate Brian Robinson Sr., who happily did the honours of scoring the touchdown that gave the Falcons a 17-point lead, as boos began to really rain down.

The game was as good as over before time expired in the 3rd quarter. The lifeless Packers were stopped in their tracks once again, looking completely out of options, as they have done for most of their season to date.

Golden provided something for the home fans to cheer about with a consolation touchdown, but the finishing touches were put on Atlanta’s emphatic victory by, you guessed it, Robinson and his 2nd touchdown of the night, to go with 213 yards from scrimmage in a world-class display on primetime. Atlanta finished as 35-14 victors in an impressive win after a difficult couple of weeks.

Whilst this only improves them to 1-2, tonight showed exactly why the front office selected all of Penix Jr., Robinson and Drake London (194 receving yards) with top-10 draft picks, as they seek to finally get a run of continuity from their talented offensive trio. Though he took a back set due to the dominant ground game, the difference in the Falcons’ offense was night and day from the previous week’s.

As for Green Bay, this season will go absolutely no where if change doesn’t happen immediately. They’re lucky not to be 0-3, despite having what most thought would be a relatively easy schedule so far. It certainly doesn’t get any easier in October for them. Micah Parsons’ torn ACL has left a gaping hole in the defense, while their run game has been nothing short of pathetic with Josh Jacobs still on the comissioner’s exempt list.

Touchdowns
Atlanta: Robinson 2, Robinson Sr., Hooper
Green Bay: Watson, Golden

Top Performers
Atlanta: Robinson, London, Watts, Penix Sr., Folk
Green Bay: Watson, Golden, McKinney

Injuries
Atlanta: N/A
Green Bay: N/A

Crowd: TBC at Lambeau Field