Take 5: Five quick takeaways from the Falcons’ loss to the Jets

The Falcons played with fire and got burned.

After leading, 24-17, in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Falcons let the New York Jets stick around late in the game, and Tyrod Taylor and the offense did just enough on the final drive.

Nick Folk kicked a 56-yard field goal and the Jets escaped with a 27-24 win on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

The loss all but ended the Falcons’ fleeting playoff hopes, dropping them to 4-8. The Jets improved to 3-9.

Here are some quick takeaways from the matchup:

Bijan magic

The Falcons were in a good rhythm early in the season in getting Bijan Robinson involved in the offense, both in the run and pass games. They had a few games where he was held under 100 scrimmage yards during their five-game losing streak.

Sunday marked his return, where he had 23 carries for 142 rushing yards and added five catches for 51 receiving yards for a breakout game. The Falcons did a good job of finding running room for him, both inside and outside, and finding him in the flat on screen plays in the passing game.

They didn’t seem to find the answers when the Jets keyed more on Robinson and took away the short passes to him and focused on him in the run game.

Defense holding on

The defense played well for the first three quarters, giving up the early touchdown after special teams put them on a short field.

The Jets didn’t score again in the first half, and things seemed to be under control, with the Falcons offense getting into gear. They held on another short field and only allowed a field goal when the Jets started at the Falcons’ 15.

One of the big plays late in the game was a sack by James Pearce Jr. as the Jets were trying to mount a potential go-ahead drive in the final two minutes. Leonard Floyd also had a sack to help in the Jets deep in their own territory, but they ended the streak of four games with at least five sacks.

Woes on special teams

In a game where the defense played well for most of the game, and the offense finally found its footing, the return and coverage units on special teams were suspect.

The muffed punt inside the 10-yard line turned into an easy touchdown for the Jets in the second quarter, and giving up the 83-yard kickoff return could have been worse, with the Jets starting on the Falcons’ 15-yard line. The defense gave up only a field goal, tying it at 17.

The kicking game only had a 50-yard missed field goal, which was a bit understandable, given the cold and rainy weather conditions.

Finding the mix

In the first half, the offense was bogged down in mediocrity, with one-dimensional looks: Bijan Robinson runs early in the drives, and then moving away from that and seeing the drives stall.

They started moving away from that predictable pattern in the second quarter, and the offense was more effective. On their first scoring drive, they alternated plays to Robinson, keeping the Jets defense off-balance.

Things seemed to open up from there, as the Falcons were able to mix things up, with Kirk Cousins moving the ball around to seven receivers, including a touchdown pass to David Sills V, who had a touchdown catch for the second straight game.