Broncos shut down RB Bijan Robinson in dominant win over Falcons

Sean Payton knew the path to defeating the Falcons and staying in the playoff race meant finding a way to slow down running back Bijan Robinson.

Led by a physical defensive line, the Broncos didn’t just slow him down, they bottled him up.

A week after Robinson ran for 116 yards in a loss to the Saints, the Broncos made Robinson nonexistent for the majority of Sunday’s 38-6 victory at Empower Field at Mile High. The former Texas star finished with just 12 carries for 35 yards – a key part of a dominant defensive outing.

“They’re a tough team to beat if you don’t have an answer for them,” Payton said.

Robinson had five straight games with 100 yards from scrimmage before Week 11 — the longest such streak by a Falcon since Julio Jones in 2018, according to NFL Next Generation Stats.

He got off to a strong start, recording 32 total yards (18 rushing and 14 receiving) on ​​nine touches in the first quarter. From that point on, his production collapsed. He totaled 31 offensive yards, including 17 rushing yards on seven attempts, over the final three quarters.

Robinson had just two carries for 5 yards in the second half. Atlanta gave him the ball on the first drive of the third quarter, but was stopped for no gain by defensive end John Franklin-Myers and nose tackle DJ Jones. Early in the fourth quarter, he caught a pass but was brought down by defensive end Zach Allen for a loss of one yard.

Robinson’s 2.9 yards per carry average was his lowest since Week 3 against the Chiefs.

“We had to settle in,” Broncos inside linebacker Justin Strnad told the Denver Post. “(The Falcons) run a big zone scheme. There’s a rush of guys, so Bijan can stop and do anything. It’s a difficult plan to face, but we handled it well.

Payton said there was a different type of tenacity and courage in this year’s group. The Broncos have demonstrated this in recent weeks. After Denver was crushed by the Ravens in Week 9, allowing 396 total yards, Allen confidently declared that the team would bounce back, viewing their 41-10 loss as a bad day.

He was right. Denver has allowed less than 60 rushing yards over the past two weeks. After the Broncos gave up 57 rushing yards last week at Kansas City, they held the Falcons to 50 yards on 21 carries (2.4 yards per attempt) – the fewest in a game this season.

The Broncos’ run defense was one of the highlights of a strong performance against Atlanta, which entered the contest with the league’s fifth-best offense. Denver recorded four sacks, two of which came from outside linebacker Nik Bonitto. Cornerback Pat Surtain II did not allow a reception on two targets, while inside linebacker Cody Barton pushed back on quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​​​in the third quarter.

The Broncos gave up 226 total yards and held Atlanta scoreless in the second half. Denver has allowed a total of 22 points over the last two games.