A look at how the Falcons fared against the top candidates for NFL MVP

FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons have played three of the top contenders for the NFL MVP award and gone 2-1 against their teams.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and New England quarterback Drake Maye are the top candidates.

The Falcons beat the Bills and Rams and lost by one point to Maye and the Patriots.

“They are all more than deserving of it,” Falcons safety Jessie Bates III said Thursday. “I think last week probably hurt Stafford a little bit with us getting some picks off him.”

Other contenders include the Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and the Chargers’ Justin Herbert. Lawrence, of Cartersville, has guided the Jaguars to a 12-4 record and a playoff berth.

Running backs Christian McCaffrey (49ers), Bijan Robinson (Falcons) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts) will garner some votes, along with wide receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seattle) and Puka Nacua (Rams).

“Yeah, I mean, I think anybody that’s watching our games and has been able to see what he’s been able to do,” Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said of Bijan Robinson. “He’s been performing in the prime-time games, the two Monday night games. I mean, that’s what he is. Obviously, he had an unbelievable night against Buffalo (Oct. 13) and then this game (Monday) as well. So, the pitch is, you’ve got to just watch.”

Bijan Robinson had an 81-yard touchdown run against Buffalo and a 93-yard touchdown run against the Rams.

The MVP award tends to lean toward quarterback play. The running backs and wide receivers will be candidates for the offensive player of the year awards.

“I know there’s really good quarterback play,” Zac Robinson said. “I mean, obviously Stafford’s playing really well and Drake Maye. I don’t see a ton of those guys except for Stafford, like we were saying last week, because you see so much crossover tape. Haven’t seen a ton of Drake Maye, just a couple times.”

The Falcons also got a chance to see Nacua up close Monday night, but he was held to five catches for 47 yards receiving.

“Puka Nacua is having a great season as well,” Zac Robinson said. “Those guys are doing a great job. But it’s hard when you are just watching our games and then you go watch another game to say that he’s not the best player around.”

Bijan Robinson’s bid would be stronger if the Falcons had a winning record.

“He’d have my vote for sure,” Zac Robinson said. “He’d have all of our votes. But whether he gets it, whether he doesn’t, he’s the same guy. He’s had an incredible season, and you wish we would’ve won one or two more games.”

Robinson supports Raheem Morris’ season-long claim that Bijan Robinson is the best player in the NFL.

“We’re kind of sitting there and you look at those tough games, overtime losses, the one-score games, maybe it’s a different conversation if we are still in the playoff hunt,” Zac Robinson said. “But obviously, the things went down the way they did. But, yeah, it’s hard to argue that he is not the best player in football for sure.”

The defensive player of the year award has a clear leader in Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett, who is close to the NFL single-season sack record. He has 22 sacks and 33 tackles for losses. (Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt share the record at 22.5.)

Houston’s Will Anderson, who is from Dutchtown High, has 12 sacks and is having a strong season.

Falcons rookie safety Xavier Watts and Cleveland linebacker Carson Schwesinger are the top candidates for the rookie defensive player of the year.

“You finally saw him absolutely trust himself,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said of Watts. “I think it’s a natural progression for a lot of rookies, as they learn this game, as they learn this defense and as they learn the speed of the game.”

Watts has five interceptions, which is tied with Deion Sanders for the most by a rookie in franchise history. Sanders was a rookie in 1989.

“There’s so many things that come into it where there is an element of, you have to gain trust in all of it,” Ulbrich said. “I finally saw him just cut it loose and just really trust himself. We’ve gotten to see that for the last five or six months out here at the practice field. For him to finally put it all together on a stage like that was really gratifying to see. I’m really proud of the kid.”