Believe it or not, the Falcons finally have a good defense

I never discount NFL wins because they are hard to get. But, if you are so inclined, you could downplay the Falcons’ wins over the Vikings and Commanders because those opponents started subpar quarterbacks. Wait and see if the Falcons can stop teams with better players under center.

That wait is over. The Falcons beat Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the reigning league MVP, on Monday night. They won 24-14 with the plan they accelerated by selecting four defenders in this year’s draft. The Falcons were fast, aggressive and disruptive while holding the high-scoring Bills to their lowest point total in their past 19 games.

Finally, the Falcons have a good defense.

“We prepared for that team with a huge amount of respect, knowing who they are, the success they’ve had,” Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “And to come out here and execute on ‘Monday Night Football’ in front of our crowd — and in front of a Bills crowd, too — it felt great. We just want to keep stacking wins like that and change the culture here and make something beautiful.”

Allen didn’t look ready for what was coming at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He was hurried and imprecise as the Bills fell behind 21-7 at halftime. The Falcons made things harder on themselves after halftime, when play-caller Zac Robinson seemed to forget that Bijan Robinson should get the ball as much as possible.

The offensive lull didn’t matter in the end. The Falcons needed to score only three points after halftime to win because their defense allowed only seven. The Bills averaged 30.6 points in their first five games. The Falcons held them to their fewest points since they scored 10 against the Ravens in Week 4 of 2024.

“They did a great job,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said of his defense. “I can’t wait to watch the film and see the execution and the things we talked about come to life. I can’t wait to watch those guys go out there and play for each other.”

Allen passed for only 180 yards on 25 attempts. He got 45 of those yards on one play early in the game. Allen’s two touchdowns were offset by two interceptions. The Falcons sacked Allen four times and consistently hurried him in the pocket and flushed him out of it.

It would be a good defensive performance against any team. Doing it against the Bills signaled that the Falcons have a playoff-caliber defense for the first time in years.

“When you play a great team like that, a team that has the MVP, a team that has had as much success as they have … a lot of teams kind of freeze in the lights,” Ellis said. “We didn’t do that. We held true to our identity, we attacked, and I’m proud of us.”

Allen and the Bills never found their footing. They scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game, then punted to end their next four possessions. The Falcons had a 21-7 lead when Dee Alford intercepted Alford’s pass at Buffalo’s 49-yard line with 10 seconds left until halftime.

This was a chance for the Falcons to bury the Bills. They almost did it when Drake London caught Michael Penix Jr.’s short pass and ran for the end zone. Officials ruled that London scored with no time on the clock, but after a replay review, London was judged out of bounds at the 1-yard line.

It felt like the Falcons’ lead should have been more than two touchdowns at the break. The Falcons had gained 335 yards to Buffalo’s 131. The Bills couldn’t stop Bijan Robinson (152 total yards with an 81-yard touchdown run) or London (147 yards and a score). Yet the Bills had a chance to make it a one-score deficit when they got the ball first after halftime.

That’s what happened. The Bills didn’t face a third down during their nine-play scoring drive to open the second half. Allen’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Ray Davis made the score 21-14 with more than nine minutes left in the third quarter. The next three Falcons possessions ended with a punt, a blocked field-goal attempt and another punt.

It once seemed the Falcons would blow out the Bills by scoring a bunch of points. Now they needed their defense to put away Buffalo. That’s what happened. The Bills wouldn’t score again.

They went for it on fourth down at the Falcons’ 46-yard line. A.J. Terrell chased Allen out of the pocket on a blitz, and Allen hurriedly flipped a pass that fell incomplete with rookie Jalon Walker bearing down on him. The Bills went three-and-out on their next two possessions.

The Falcons kicked a field goal to lead 24-14 with 1:43 to go. The Bills had no timeouts during their final, desperation drive. Allen was on the run when he threw a pass that linebacker DeAngelo Malone intercepted at the Falcons’ 7-yard line.