Bijan Robinson shines again, but Falcons' special teams falter in loss to Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Bijan Robinson made plays almost every time he touched the ball for the Atlanta Falcons.

And it still wasn’t enough. Again.

The Falcons blew a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter and fell to the New York Jets 27-24 on Nick Folk’s 56-yard field goal as time expired Sunday for Atlanta’s sixth loss in seven games. It came on a day when Robinson had 193 yards from scrimmage.

“Bijan was awesome and amazing, as usual,” coach Raheem Morris said.

Robinson ran for 142 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught five passes for 51 yards. He also became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 50 receptions and 1,400 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three seasons, joining Matt Forte, Justin Jefferson, Herschel Walker and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Robinson also joined Tomlinson as the only players with at least 3,000 yards rushing, 1,500 yards receiving and 30 scrimmage touchdowns in their first three seasons.

But the latest standout performance by the Falcons’ do-it-all running back came in another loss.

“It’s always tough to lose in this league and it’s a lot tougher when you don’t have production,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “I’m proud of the way Bijan played and the guys around him who helped him have a day like he had. Love any time a player can show what they’re capable of and I felt Bijan did that today.

“I just wish it had been in a win, and he does, too.”

It appeared it might be headed that way in the fourth quarter when the Falcons took a 24-17 lead on Cousins’ 9-yard touchdown pass to David Sills. But Robinson touched the ball just once more — a 1-yard run — on Atlanta’s last two possessions and had what was initially ruled a 5-yard catch changed to an incomplete pass after a video review.

The Jets, meanwhile, tied it with a 15-play, 65-yard drive and then won it two possessions later.

“It stings,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said of the Jets’ tying score. “It was a drive that lagged on and shouldn’t have. We had many opportunities to close it out. Give them props. It is what is.”

As it has been at points this season, the Falcons’ special teams were also a culprit in the latest loss.

Neither team was able to get anything going early, but New York broke through in the second quarter when Jamal Agnew fumbled a fair catch of a punt deep in Falcons territory and Breece Hall ran it in from 2 yards one play later to give the Jets the lead.

Atlanta also gave up an 83-yard kickoff return by Isaiah Williams that set up a field goal that tied it at 17 for the Jets early in the fourth quarter.

Zane Gonzalez, coming off being selected the NFC special teams player of the week in his second game with the Falcons, also missed a 50-yard attempt in the third quarter.

“We just haven’t played well,” Morris said of his special teams unit. “Today was a muffed punt, kickoff return. We haven’t covered like we are capable of covering. We have moments, we have times. We have not had the consistency you need to go out there and dominate field position. There’s a lot of different factors. We’ve got to do better.”

Morris, whose own seat is warming with each loss, bristled a bit when he was asked if there are thoughts of moving on from special teams coordinator Marquice Williams.

“You’d love to get rid of people today, but we don’t make emotional decisions, we know that,” Morris said. “We won’t talk about those things. We never do that. It’s not our code. It’s not our ethics. It’s not who we are. It’s not what we are. It’s not a decision, that’s not what we do today.”

When Morris was asked what his approach will be in the Falcons’ final five games, the coach simply said: “To win them.”

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