Five things we learned from Falcons' win over Raiders on Monday

LAS VEGAS — The Atlanta Falcons went old-school to pull out a 15-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night at Allegiant Stadium.

In the pass-happy NFL, the Falcons went smashmouth 1970s era on the Raiders. They ran the ball on 23 of 24 first downs.

The Falcons kept the clock running. More important, they found a way to limit quarterback Kirk Cousins to one turnover.

The Falcons ran the ball 37 times for 168 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry. They won the time of possession, 33 minutes, 52 seconds to 26:08.

Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said the team wanted to take first and second downs off Cousins’ plate after he failed to throw a touchdown pass over four games and had eight interceptions.

The Falcons stopped their four-game losing streak and reached seven victories for the fourth year in a row. Also, they kept their flickering playoff hopes alive.

Here are five things we learned from the win over the Raiders.

— 1. Robinson is dynamic: If the Falcons are going to the playoffs, it appears that the rugged run-blocking offensive line and running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier are going to carry them.

Cousins attempted a season-low 17 passes.

Robinson rushed for a career-high 125 yards and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. It was his sixth 100-yard rushing game over his two-year career.

Robinson finished with 135 scrimmage yards. It was his 10th game with at least 100 scrimmage yards this season, second most in the NFL to Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley, who has 11 games.

Robinson became the first Falcon to surpass 100 scrimmage yards 10 times in a single season since wide receiver Julio Jones in 2018.

Robinson nearly broke a couple of runs for long-gainers.

“I feel like I was one guy a way,” Robinson said. “One or two guys away. We’re going to get it right in practice. A lot of that is on me to break tackles. Just keep breaking tackles.”

Robinson senses the big runs are coming.

“Yeah, man, we are close,” Robinson said. “When we start breaking those runs and we start getting those 50- and 60-yard runs, the sky is the limit. We are going to try and go get them in the next game.”

— 2. The book on Ridder: Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake tried to downplay the significance of his defense knowing Raiders quarterback Desmond Ridder, a Falcons player in 2022 and 2023. He said it was not a “humongous advantage.”

But it was a major emphasis and advantage for the defense.

“We knew Des likes the quick game,” Falcons linebacker Nate Landman said. “Likes to get the ball out of his hands quickly. Obviously, he’s mobile. We practiced the zone-read a little bit, and he had a couple of keepers, especially the one on the fourth down.”

Ridder was liked by Falcons teammates. Landman, Robinson and safety Jessie Bates III made sure to chat with him pregame and postgame.

“We came in together, in the same (draft) class,” Landman said. “It’s always good to see him. He said his family is doing well. I was happy to see Des. Happy for him to have landed (with the Raiders) and to get the start.”

— 3. Pass rush continues: The Falcons’ pass rush continued to get to the quarterback. Outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone led the charge with two sacks.

The defense finished with four sacks and six quarterback hits.

“It was an unbelievable blessing,” Malone said. “I felt like guys came out here with high motors. Guys were playing relentless. Guys just wanted to finish.”

Malone, who made the team as a special-teams player, has had his snaps on defense increased over the course of the season.

“We know if we got one, they’d come in bunches,” Malone said. “We are playing within each other. Guys have faith in each other. Guys have been going hard and getting to the quarterback.”

The Falcons are the only team with an active streak of at least four sacks in three consecutive games.

The last time the Falcons had three consecutive games with at least four sacks was weeks 15-17 in 2004, while they were on their way to the NFC Championship game.

The Falcons remain last in the league with 23 sacks.

— 4. Kicking game: Punter Bradley Pinion placed four punts inside the 10-yard and two inside the 5-yard line.

Pinion punted six times for 265 yards and a net average of 37.5. He had a long of 63 yards.

Pinion’s punts allowed the Falcons to play some “keep away” soccer-style football, according to coach Raheem Morris.

However, kicker Younghoe Koo missed another field-goal attempt. He had a 42-yard attempt sail wide left.

If he’d made the field goal, the Falcons would have had a two-score lead and would not have had to withstand the Hail Mary attempts to try to win the game.

Also, the Falcons did not allow Koo to attempt two 55-yard field-goal tries.

“Definitely had two decisions there and definitely decided to pin them back,” Morris said. “I thought it was really well done by special teams. We played a little soccer, let’s just be honest, played a keep-away game, make those guys (drive) ... all the way down the field. Try to beat us with touchdowns.”

— 5. Young defensive tackles: Second-year defensive tackle Zach Harrison and rookie defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro both made noticeable plays in the game.

Harrison dropped Raiders running back Alexander Mattison for a safety.

Orhorhoro, who was activated from injured reserve a few hours before the game, had one tackle and a tackle for loss.

“Jimmy put us in the right call, and we went and executed,” Harrison said of the safety. “That’s really all there is to it.”

Orhorhoro played 15 defensive snaps (22%). He had been out with an ankle injury.

“It was really good after just sitting out for some time,” Orhorhoro said. “Had some time to learn. I got my body back. It was really good. It was good to be back out there with the boys.”

Overall, the Falcons had 10 tackles for losses.

“We were definitely out there getting after it,” Orhorhoro said. “Just getting vertical. Trying to make plays in the backfield to try to get a better pass-rush scenario.”

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