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NFL NFL Season is Underway FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons entered the 2025 season curious about many things. They wanted to see if second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. would carry his 2024 momentum forward. He did. They wanted to see if kicker Younghoe Koo would bounce back from a disappointing season. He hasn’t yet. And they hoped for a drastic improvement on defense. They got a minor one. Advertisement The one thing almost nobody thought about was the run game. Atlanta was a top-10 rushing team in offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s first season and returned Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier and enough of its offensive line that it expected to be able to count on the rushing attack even if it couldn’t count on much else. Instead, the Falcons (0-1) rushed for 69 yards in Week 1’s 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and were faced with a sobering film review Monday. “They came out in a look that we haven’t seen, ” Bijan 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. ” Nearly a third of the Falcons’ rushing yards came from Penix, who gained 21 yards scrambling. Robinson and Allgeier each finished with 24 yards and averaged fewer than 2. 5 yards per carry. Atlanta’s rushing performance was the NFL’s worst of Week 1 as measured by expected points added (minus-10. 59), and it was the team’s worst effort since Week 15 of the 2023 season against the Carolina Panthers. “We all have shared accountability with what happened on Sunday, ” Zac 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. ”

Head coach Raheem Morris agreed there was enough blame to go around for the run game’s woes. “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, ” he 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. ” Advertisement The Falcons ran the ball four times on third-and-1, fourth-and-1 or first-and-goal from the 1 — two by Robinson and two by Allgeier. They only converted one of those attempts and totaled minus-2 yards on the four carries. “That’s definitely an area where we are regrouping, ” Zac Robinson said. “Definitely want to make sure we have some answers for the guys. ” Atlanta gave Elijah Wilkinson his first start at right tackle since 2019 in place of Kaleb Mc Gary, who is out for the season. But Wilkinson was no more responsible for the run game’s failures than anyone on the team, Morris said. “We didn’t play well up front, ” Morris said. “It’s not Elijah Wilkinson. We have to be able to go out there and play together. Elijah did some really good things. He did some poor things when it comes to (penalties). We’d like to see Elijah get better just like the rest of our guys. ” The run game’s struggles don’t seem to have dissuaded the Falcons from relying heavily on the pistol formation, in which Penix stands 5 yards behind center Ryan Neuzil, rather than 7 yards in a traditional shotgun formation. NFL teams ran 115 plays out of the pistol in Week 1, according to Tru Media. The Falcons ran 30 of those. The Eagles were second in the league with 12. Atlanta averaged 2. 2 yards per carry on its 17 runs out of pistol formation. The Falcons prefer the pistol formation over an under-center alignment for several reasons, Zac Robinson said. It doesn’t offer any clues about the direction of the run game because the running back can still line up in the middle of the formation instead of being offset in a shotgun formation. It allows the running back to get the ball more quickly than if the quarterback had to come from under center. And the quarterback’s positioning doesn’t interfere with pre-snap motion by other players, he said. Advertisement Zac Robinson’s affection for the formation started as an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2023, he said. “We felt like it kind of loosened things up, ” he said. “We felt like we could get into every run, play-pass, quick-game concept. ” Penix operated extensively out of the pistol formation at the University of Washington. “I like everything about it. It’s what I’ve been in my whole life, ” Penix said. However, “it doesn’t matter if I’m in pistol or underneath. That’s just game-plan stuff, whatever Z-Rob wants to do. ” Atlanta’s formation decisions will change from week to week based on the game plan, Zac Robinson said. The Falcons face the Minnesota Vikings (1-0) on the road Sunday night. The Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores held the Chicago Bears to an NFL-low 19 percent success rate on designed runs in Week 1, according to Tru Media. Flores and Buccaneers head coach and defensive play caller Todd Bowles have similarly aggressive styles, Zac Robinson said. “Those guys from a schematic standpoint make you sort through everything, ” he said. “They make you make sure you are on the screws with the details. I’m sure there will be something new that we haven’t seen. ” Bijan Robinson believes the Falcons will be more ready for that this time. “This week, we know what to study, what to prepare for, ” Bijan Robinson said. “I think it’s going to be a completely different story. ” (Photo of Bijan Robinson: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Josh Kendall , a Georgia native, has been following the Falcons since Jeff Van Note was the richly bearded face of the franchise. For 20 years before joining The Athletic NFL staff, he covered football in the SEC. He also covers golf for The Athletic. Follow Josh on Twitter @Josh The Athletic