Take 5: Five quick takeaways from Falcons’ win over Saints

The Falcons have scored the most points in the league in the past two games.

That’s after they had the fewest points in the first two games.

Michael Penix Jr. is the difference — or at least, a big piece of it.

The offense clicked on all cylinders, with five rushing touchdowns, amid a dominant performance in a 45-24 road win over the Saints on Monday Night Football.

Atlanta (2-2) kept pace with the Panthers atop the NFC South and won their second straight primetime game, with another looming on Sunday against the Ravens.

Here are some quick takeaways from their big win:

The Robinsons

The Falcons made their mark on the first drive — and somewhat predictably, Bijan Robinson was a big part of it. On his first run, Robinson got free for a 59-yard touchdown run, his third of 50-plus yards on Monday Night Football in his career.

He seems to have a flair for the dramatic in primetime games, always showing up with a big play. According to the ESPN broadcast, that’s as many as Emmitt Smith had in 25 appearances on MNF.

Robinson finished with 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Brian Robinson Jr. added 62 rushing yards and three touchdowns. That tied a franchise record from 1973 with five rushing touchdowns in a game. They also sported a robust average of 5.9 yards per carry.

It was a dominant display of the change of pace that the two backs present in the run game, without taxing Bijan too much, and enough that Brian was able to get going.

Defensive presence

From the first possession, the defense showed up, holding the Saints to a three-and-out, after the Falcons’ offense put points on the board. That continued throughout the first half, as they held the Saints to 15 rushing yards in the first two quarters.

It wasn’t just about sacks or turnovers, though they did get a fumble recovery from CJ Henderson in the first half. That helped turn the momentum, as the Falcons had a short field and added more points off the turnover.

The difference was the consistent pressure the defense had on Tyler Shough and not allowing the Saints’ run game to get any traction. Credit the secondary also for good coverage and not giving up a slew of big plays.

Finding Penix

Penix had a big impact for the second consecutive game. Again, the numbers weren’t staggering, but they were good enough to get the job done.

He finished 15-for-20 for 223 yards and a touchdown, and he made some nice passes when he had opportunities to stretch the defense. Penix threw to seven receivers and didn’t face much pressure from the Saints’ defense, with only one sack.

Penix connected with Jahan Dotson on a 31-yard scoring play, for Dotson’s first career touchdown catch.

Big mo

The Falcons scored quickly on the first possession of the game, and that seemed to start the momentum immediately and put the onus on the Saints to play catch-up.

They never let them.

The offense continued to pile on the points in the first half, en route to a 24-7 lead at halftime. The tone already was set and the Saints didn’t have the horses on offense — or the ability to stop the Falcons on defense — to do anything about it.