With the Atlanta Falcons taking on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the team is looking to bounce back after the disappointing 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the weekend prior. Looking at the loss from the Falcons to the Buccaneers, one of the frustrating aspects was the run game, as star Bijan Robinson speaks on the team's deficiencies.
On the ground, Robinson carried the ball 12 times for 24 yards while Atlanta as a whole only recorded 69 yards, a number that the team was not pleased with. Especially Robinson, as he said this week that plainly, the team was “outmatched,” according to The Athletic.
“They came out in a look that we haven’t seen,” Robinson said. “Our playbook got shorter, and we were trying to run other plays to outscheme them. We prepared for something completely different. It wasn’t about effort or anything like that. We were just outmatched in that game.”
Robinson would have a productive game through the air as he caught the ball six times for 100 yards, helped by a 50-yard touchdown, but for the entire team to be successful, Atlanta has to succeed on the ground. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson would echo the same sentiments, saying that there is “a lot to clean up.”
“We all have shared accountability for what happened on Sunday,” Robinson said. “A lot to clean up. It was great to flush the tape out and move on to next week. Everybody knows our offensive line. We will all bounce back together.”
Falcons' Bijan Robinson on his confidence in the rushing attack
While Robinson started the season right with the Falcons from that aforementioned 50-yard touchdown, there's no denying that the running back wants to excel with the rushing attack. For Week 2, Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris would put some blame on the coaching.
“I don’t want to take any credit away from Tampa, but we have to find a way to run the football better, whether that be coaching better or playing better,” Morris said. “Those guys did a better job than us. They shed blocks and made plays. From a coaching standpoint, we have to give our guys better opportunities.”
Despite the 69 total rushing yards, Bijan Robinson expects a different narrative for the next outing.
“This week, we know what to study, what to prepare for,” Robinson said. “I think it’s going to be a completely different story.”
At any rate, the Falcons look for their first win of the season when they take on the Vikings on Sunday.
