Falcons running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier proved to be a strong one-two punch against the Panthers.
They combined for 34 touches for 177 yards and three touchdowns in the 24-10 win over the Panthers on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Bijan and Tyler, both played their butts off,” Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder said. “It all starts with the five men up front. They did a heck of a job of dominating the line of scrimmage. Moving the line of scrimmage and creating gaps for Bijan and Tyler.”
Allgeier rushed 15 times for 75 yards and touchdowns. He caught three passes for 19 yards.
Robinson rushed 10 times for 56 yards and caught six passes for 27 yards and one touchdown.
“Those guys have great vision, great awareness and great balance,” Ridder said. “Once you just give them the ball, it’s just fun to watch them go.”
Robinson scored the first touchdown of his career on a swing pass he tunrned into an 11-yard catch-and-run. He made linebacker Frankie Luvu miss and then stream through tackle attempts by linebacker Shaq Thompson and safety Vonn Bell.
“He’s a football player,” Smith said. “He’ll line up all over the place. There is still more he can do. He’s such a unique player, unique balance. The guy made a heck of play, but we saw that every day in practice.”
The Falcons took Robinson, who starred at Texas, with the eighth overall pick in the draft.
“I thought he’d do something like that (Sunday) and I’m glad that he did,” Smith said. “It helped us win.”
Robinson’s elusive style blended well with the power running of Allgeier, who finished his runs with authority.
The Falcons had to lean on the running backs as the Panthers were trying to take away wide receiver Drake London.
They enjoyed ended working in tandem.
“Absolutely, that’s what we do in practice,” Robinson said. “That’s what we wanted to do in the game. We’ve been training to do that. It was just so much fun being a catalyst off of him and him being the same way off of me.”
The Falcons running backs were missing Cordarrelle Patterson, who was declared out with his thigh injury. Robinson and Allgeier hope to continue their flow.
“It was good moment for the both of us,” Robinson said. “Especially doing more in the pass game, too. Getting those catches out of the backfield and the slot and receiver. It was fun to be a part of it and I’m just glad we got the win off of it.”
Allgeier felt the energy of playing off of Robinson’s runs.
“It was just me and him feeding off of each other,” Allgeier said. “He would make a good play, then I’d got to make a good play. We were just executing between the both of us. Whenever we got our number called, we were just executing. I think both of us did that today.”
Allgeier’s first touchdown run, which gave the Falcons a 17-10 lead, was spectacular. He hit the line of scrimmage and the hole was clogged up. He bounce the run outside around left end and stretched the ball over the pylon.
“That one was crazy,” Allgeier said. “Great blocking between (fullback) Keith (Smith) and the (offensive) line blocking down and then just me being able to bounce it. The hole wasn’t there and I ended up bouncing it and ended up scoring.”
Allgeier added another touchdown to put the Falcons up 24-10. After playing in 13 one-score games last season, the team didn’t want to get too comfortable.
“I wouldn’t say that if felt different,” Allgeier said. “With this league, you never know. That’s what crazy about it. We just had to remain locked in just in case they scored because they were down two scores.
“We’ve seen matches like that. It’s really just not getting comfortable between everyone, offense, defense and special teams because when it was a four-minute (situation) we tried our best (to run out the clock), but they ended up stopping us and ended up just leaving it all to the defense. They ended up getting that stop.”
Robinson felt the Falcons victory was much like Texas’ hard fought 34-24 victory over Alabama on Saturday night in the collegiate game.
“Just seeing Texas and how they pulled it out last night, with that grit and that fight, that’s how it needs to be,” Robinson said. “For us, we came in here today with that same mindset, just playing together as a team. We couldn’t let any adversity get in between us. That’s what happened. We came out there, we fought, executed and got the win.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
About the Author
