The Falcons walked into Lambeau Field and left with the kind of win that changes the temperature around both teams. Atlanta rolled past Green Bay 35-14 on Thursday night, and the biggest reason was impossible to miss: Bijan Robinson tore the Packers apart on the ground.
Robinson piled up 194 rushing yards, and he wasn’t working alone. Brian Robinson Jr. added 50 yards of his own, giving Atlanta a run game that Green Bay never came close to solving. The Packers, still without Micah Parsons, had no answer for the Falcons’ ground attack.
That result also sharpened the spotlight on Jordan Love, whose early-season slide is becoming harder to ignore. Green Bay’s offense never found a real rhythm, and Love spent most of the night trying to dig out of a hole that kept getting deeper.
He finished 28-of-53 for 312 yards, but most of that damage came after the game had already slipped away. Love threw two touchdown passes and a late interception, yet he couldn’t consistently push the ball downfield or make use of his mobility.
The numbers from the first three weeks tell the same story. Love entered the game having completed just 52.1% of his passes.
In Week 2, he managed only 145 passing yards in a narrow 20-17 win over the New York Jets. In the opener, he threw for 387 yards, but Green Bay still lost to the Minnesota Vikings 22-17.
Through all of it, the offense has looked uneven and difficult to trust.
The ground game has only made things worse. With MarShawn Loyd and Kaleb Johnson combining for 17 rushing yards, the Packers haven’t had enough on the ground to keep defenses honest or open things up through the air. Without Josh Jacobs, the offense has looked one-dimensional.
If Green Bay is counting on the defense to stabilize once Parsons gets on the field, the offense still has to give it something to work with. Right now, it’s not doing nearly enough.
Robinson was the clear player of the game. He finished with 194 yards on 29 carries, a 6.7-yard average, and added 19 receiving yards along with two touchdowns. His mix of burst and balance kept finding cracks in the Packers’ defense, and the Falcons’ line gave him enough room to turn those openings into a big night.
Atlanta’s first win doesn’t suddenly turn the Falcons into a team everyone has to circle, but it does leave the pressure squarely on Matt LaFleur and a 1-2 Packers team that needs answers fast.
In Other News...
Bears Offensive Problem Just Got Harder For Ben Johnson To Ignore
The Bears offense was already in a tough spot before Caleb Williams left Sundays 9-3 loss to the Vikings with a hamstring injury. Chicago moved the ball better than Minnesota in total yards, but it never turned that into a touchdown, and the day turned into another reminder that sustaining drives and finishing possessions are still very much a problem. Williams went 15 of 26 for 138 yards with an interception before exiting, and the lack of rhythm around him made the entire unit look stuck in place.
Now Ben Johnson has a bigger question hanging over a team that already needed answers. The Bears are set to face the Eagles next, and if Williams cannot go, the offense will have to be reshaped on the fly while also trying to fix the same issues that showed up against Minnesota. For a staff looking for signs of progress, the timing could hardly be worse. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Fans Got One Bit Of Relief After A Brutal Week
The week did not get any kinder for the Bears after their loss to the Vikings, especially with the Caleb Williams injury situation now hanging over everything as Chicago looks ahead. At 1-2, the margin for error is already thin, and the next stretch only gets more important if the rookie quarterbacks availability remains in question.
Green Bay, however, gave Bears fans a small dose of comfort on Sunday by taking a 35-14 beating from the Falcons. Jordan Love never settled in, and the Packers defense had no answer for Bijan Robinson, offering Chicago at least a reminder that the NFC North race is still very much unsettled even as the Bears sort through their own concerns. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Head Into Monday Night With A QB Problem Nobody Wanted
The Bears are heading into Monday night with the kind of quarterback uncertainty nobody in the building wanted this early in the season. Ben Johnson said all three quarterbacks on the roster have a chance to play in Week 3, which leaves Chicago waiting on Caleb Williams as he deals with a hamstring injury and Tyson Bagent as he works through concussion protocol.
If both of those situations keep him out, Case Keenum is lined up to start, with Miller Moss positioned as the fourth-string option and an emergency backup. It is an uneasy place for a team trying to settle into a new rhythm under Johnson, especially with the spotlight of Monday Night Football waiting and no clear answer yet on who will take the first snap. [Read more 🡒]