(Atlanta) When Arthur Smith informed his offense that it would take a chance on fourth down, the Atlanta Falcons were pumped.
Bijan Robinson and his blockers were determined to make this decision the right one.
Robinson had a seven-yard run on fourth down and a yard to go, setting up Younghoe Koo’s 25-yard field goal with 57 seconds left to give the Falcons a come-from-behind victory over Green’s Packers Bay 25-24, Sunday.
“When you’re told to go for the first down, you have to do everything you can to get that done for your team,” Robinson said.
The rookie running back had another strong performance, racking up 124 rushing yards on 19 carries, adding four catches for 48 yards. He showed why the Falcons (2-0) selected him eighth overall in the last NFL draft.
“When you select the right player for your team, you can’t ask for anything more,” Robinson said with a smile.
That fourth-down success came with the Falcons in position to attempt a field goal, but with 2:08 remaining. Smith decided to gamble, not wanting to give the Packers much time to attempt a field goal themselves.
“It shows he has a lot of confidence in us,” insisted left tackle Jake Matthews. It was exciting to achieve this fourth attempt. »
The Packers (1-1) let slip a 24-12 lead and three more touchdown passes from young quarterback Jordan Love, who now has six in his first two games as Aaron Rodgers’ successor in Green Bay.
Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder scored a six-yard touchdown on fourth down and four yards to go with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Ridder and Robinson then teamed up to orchestrate two offensive sequences that each set the table for a Koo field goal.
Robinson had 56 yards rushing and 27 yards through the air in his NFL debut last week in a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
He was even better against the Packers.
Love didn’t do badly either, especially considering the offensive injuries around him. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 151 yards, with three touchdown passes thrown into the hands of a rookie.
But the Packers’ offense calmed down in the fourth quarter, allowing the Falcons to improve to 2-0 for just the 11th time in team history.
“It’s just a matter of execution, being better on fourth down and being able to play a complete game,” Love analyzed.
Love threw a 10-yard, nine-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed, a second-round draft pick. These were the first two receptions for a major of the young receiver’s career.
Love also connected with Dontayvion Wicks 32 yards for the Packers’ fifth-round pick’s first professional touchdown.
The Packers were without three injured starters on offense and lost another during the game, leaving Love to play behind a patched-up offensive line.
Koo made four field goals to make up for his missed convert that helped the Packers head into the locker room with a 10-9 halftime lead.
