Falcons serve notice with victory over AFC-heavyweight Bills

The Falcons have not had a big win like this in a while.

The Falcons raced to a big lead and held on to defeat the Bills 24-14 on “Monday Night Football” at a raucous Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Linebacker DeAngelo Malone cradled an interception and went to a knee in the final minute to secure the victory.

The Bills have been to the playoffs in seven of the past eight seasons, with two trips to the AFC championship game. The Falcons have posted seven consecutive losing seasons. They wanted to beat the AFC heavyweight to show they are a legitimate team in 2025.

“We want to be a playoff organization,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We want to be able to compete in those types of games like we played Monday night. We don’t shy away from those moments. We have to go do it.”

The Falcons accomplished their goal against the Bills, sending throngs of their fans back to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport for flights back to Western New York.

“Those are things you dream about from a coaching standpoint, a playing standpoint, an ownership standpoint,” Morris said. “All of those things we want to be a part of. I think that was just something that we wanted to show tonight.”

Running back Bijan Robinson put on a show, with 19 rushes for 170 yards and an 81-yard touchdown run.

“He’s the best player in football,” said Morris, who gave a fiery postgame locker room speech and then gave Robinson the game ball.

Wide receiver Drake London did his part with 10 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

“Everybody had the same mindsight, had the same goal,” London said. “We were fighting for each other. The word this week was ‘selfless acts.’ That’s what we did.”

The Falcons improved to 3-2. The Bills dropped to 4-2.

“It was one of those plays where it was perfectly blocked up front,” Robinson said of the 81-yard jaunt. “They gave me a crease, and I took advantage of it. Shout-out to (wide receiver) Casey (Washington) for having that big block on that corner because it set me up to go (to the end zone).”

Buffalo’s Jason Allen completed 15 of 26 passes for 180 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He had a passer rating of 72.6.

Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed 20 of 32 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 97.1.

“It’s tough in the NFL,” Penix said. “Each and every day we are trying to figure out who we are and what our identity is. You look at the first game, we had to throw a lot. The second game, we were running the ball. Tonight was (balanced).”

The Falcons had 233 net passing yards and 210 rushing yards.

Behind the running of Robinson and pass catching from London, the Falcons held a 21-7 lead at halftime.

The Falcons outgained the Bills 335 yards to 131 in the first half and should have had more points. While the offense was rolling, the defense was making life miserable for Allen and the Bills. The Falcons opened the game with a crisp five-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 21-yard touchdown run by Tyler Allgeier. He ran over Bills safety Taylor Rapp on his way into the end zone.

The Bills answered with Allen tossing a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox to make the score 7-7 with 8:01 left in the first quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Falcons went back on the move. After driving to the Falcons’ 49, London had a 20-yard reception, and Robinson broke loose for 22 yards over left tackle. After Robinson was stopped for no gain, and a pass for tight end Kyle Pitts was incomplete, Penix connected with London for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-7 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.

After the defense forced a punt, Robinson broke free behind right guard Chris Lindstrom and bounced the ball outside on his 81-yard touchdown run. The last Bill to beat was at the 46.

It was the longest touchdown run of Robinson’s career.

After forcing another punt, the Falcons went back on the move. They went for it on fourth-and-3 from the Bills’ 33, and the pass intended for Washington was incomplete. The Falcons could have attempted a 50-yard field goal.

After an exchange of punts, nickel back Dee Alford intercepted a pass at Buffalo’s 49 with 10 seconds to go.

“It’s crazy because last week against New England, he (Allen) threw the same interception on the same play,” Alford said. “I saw that look from watching film earlier before the game. I believed what I saw and jumped it.”

Penix tossed a quick pass out to London for 9 yards.

London nearly scored on the next play, but stepped out at the 1-yard line.

Left tackle Jake Matthews suffered an ankle injury late in the second quarter. Michael Jerrell came in for him.

The Bills had the ball to start the second half.

Allen marched his team down the field 73 yards over nine plays and took 5:37 off the clock. He tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Ray Davis. The Bills did not have a third down in the drive.

After the Falcons were forced to punt, the Bills went back on the move. But the Falcons’ defense got a stop when the Bills went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Falcons’ 46.

After two runs, play moved into the fourth quarter with the ball at Buffalo’s 45. The Falcons’ drive stalled on the Bills’ 19. Parker Romo’s 37-yard field-goal attempt to make it a two-score game was blocked by Greg Rousseau, who is 6-foot-6 and made a nice leap.

The Falcons defense forced a punt, and the offense got the ball back with 10:17 to play. But the drive never got moving, and Buffalo had the ball back with 8:43 to play from their 33-yard line.

The defense held again and forced a punt.

The Falcons had the ball at their 17-yard line. They put together a 14-play, 68-yard drive that took five minutes off the clock and forced Buffalo to use all of its timeouts. Romo made a 33-yard field goal with 1:43 to play.

Malone ended the Bills’ last-ditch effort with an interception.