Atlanta Ran for Five Touchdowns Against New Orleans. What the Fuck Were the Saints Supposed to Stop?

Five rushing touchdowns. In one NFL game. Against your division rival. Atlanta beat New Orleans 45–24 on October 5 and spent most of Monday night doing something everybody in the Superdome knew was coming. The Falcons ran the ball, the Saints tried to stop them, and then the Falcons did it again. At some point you gotta ask what the hell New Orleans was even supposed to be defending.

Bijan Robinson had 145 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Brian Robinson Jr. went for 62 and three more. Atlanta finished with 205 net rushing yards as a team and set a franchise record with five scores on the ground. That isn't one lucky breakaway run. That's an offensive line and a backfield making a statement over and over.

The first touchdown told everybody what kind of night this would be

Atlanta's third offensive play was a 59-yard Bijan touchdown. That's how you walk into an opponent's building and take the air out of the place before fans even get comfortable in their seats. His other rushing score came from four yards out, so he showed the two ways a defense can lose to him: get outrun in space or get pushed backward near the goal line.

Then Brian took over the dirty work. His three touchdown runs came from four, eight and eleven yards. New Orleans had to handle Bijan's speed, then deal with Brian finishing drives. When a team can keep changing which running back carries the ball without changing the basic physical advantage, the defensive coordinator has a real problem.

The individual rushing totals for the two backs add up to 207. Atlanta's official team net is 205 because Michael Penix Jr. also had two carries totaling minus two yards. That's why the numbers aren't supposed to be treated like somebody made a mistake.

The night was supposed to mean something different in New Orleans

The Saints were marking twenty years since their 2006 return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Former players were there, Steve Gleason was part of the pregame ceremony, and there was genuine history in the building. This wasn't just another random divisional matchup to the people in New Orleans.

But the Falcons didn't owe the Saints a happy ending. They came out up 14–0 in the first quarter and went into halftime ahead 24–7. By the end of the third quarter it was 31–10. Even when Alvin Kamara scored twice for New Orleans, Atlanta kept replying.

Tyler Shough threw for 286 yards, but it took 48 attempts. Michael Penix Jr. only needed twenty passes, going 15-for-20 for 223 yards and adding a 31-yard touchdown throw to Jahan Dotson. That's what a comfortable run game buys you: the quarterback doesn't have to play hero ball on every drive.

New Orleans had injuries, but that doesn't erase the problem

The Saints were missing starting linebacker Kaden Elliss and edge rusher Carl Granderson, which is meaningful context for the front seven. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley pushed back on television criticism of his unit's effort after the game. I can respect him defending the players without pretending the result was acceptable.

Atlanta still put up forty-five, and New Orleans finished with only fifty rushing yards of its own. That's both sides of the physical matchup going in one team's direction. It's hard to win a rivalry game when you can't run the ball and can't keep the other guys from running it.

An injured front seven makes the assignment harder. But the answer still has to come from gap discipline, tackling, run fits, substitutions and somebody actually winning a block. This wasn't a problem the Saints could solve just by yelling louder on the sideline.

My take: don't treat five touchdowns like five guaranteed props

Now, when you watch the backfield, it's tempting to say both Robinsons are automatic touchdown bets from here on out. Nah. We saw one game where Atlanta kept reaching scoring position and two running backs got the chance to finish. The opportunity was real. The outcome won't repeat at this rate every week.

What actually interests me is how the carries change by field position. Bijan can break one from anywhere. Brian was trusted in scoring range three times. If that's part of the coaching staff's design, it's useful to watch. But you still need the upcoming defense, projected possessions, injury report and current workload before pretending you know who scores.

As a Falcons fan I'd love the way Penix didn't need to force anything. As a Saints fan I'd be pissed that my defense kept seeing the same problem and couldn't do enough to change the night.

Atlanta didn't have to keep a secret. They told New Orleans they were running the damn ball, and then they did it five times for six points.6ix / 6ixtv

6IX TAKE

That's what this game was. A backfield that knew its assignments, an offensive line that gave both backs room to work, and a defense that never really solved it. Give Atlanta credit and make New Orleans explain how it plans to stop the next team from copying the same thing.

Watch the real game, then check the official numbers