Bijan Robinson is walking into this matchup with the kind of trait that can wreck a defense that isn’t wrapping up: he keeps gaining yards after contact. That is the part of his game the New Orleans Saints have to worry about most when they face the Falcons.
The Saints have already spent the opening stretch of the season dealing with a brutal run-game test, with Jahmyr Gibbs, Derrick Henry and Ashton Jeanty all on the early schedule. There’s room to argue whether Robinson or Gibbs is the better back, but New Orleans is going to need a cleaner answer for Robinson than it had against Gibbs.
Gibbs piled up 156 rushing yards in Week 1, and Robinson is coming off a Thursday Night Football outing in which he ran for nearly 200 yards. If the Saints keep missing tackles, another performance like that is very much on the table, and that could push them toward a loss.
Robinson has a way of creating yards that don’t look available at first glance. Sometimes that comes from patience and vision.
Sometimes it’s simply a matter of slipping through the crease. Either way, the Saints have to make the run hard before they can finish the play.
That’s where the concern gets real. Robinson is averaging 4.9 yards after contact, and New Orleans has had trouble bringing runners down the first time around. Per NextGen Stats, the Saints have successfully tackled runners at the 12th lowest percentage this season.
The missed tackles haven’t stopped there. On called run plays, the Saints have the seventh highest missed tackle rate, and that combination is dangerous against a back who specializes in making defenders whiff.
There is at least one area New Orleans can attack. The Falcons have not done a great job keeping defenders out of the backfield, with Robinson getting hit at the line of scrimmage or behind it on 47 percent of his carries. He has been able to erase that problem by forcing missed tackles, but it remains something the Saints can try to exploit.
For New Orleans, the game in the trenches is going to matter a lot. If the front can get penetration and force Robinson to slow down while help arrives, that changes the picture.
He has the quickness and elusiveness to make bigger linemen miss, so it cannot be left to one tackler. The Saints need bodies arriving together.
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Saints Suddenly Have A Backfield Problem They Can't Ignore
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Saints Just Exposed A Defensive Problem They Cant Ignore
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Bowers, the rookie tight end, kept finding soft spots and matchup advantages against New Orleans, averaging nearly 12 yards per catch while helping tilt the game in Las Vegas' favor. The way Kubiak chose to start Bowers ended up mattering in a major way, and it left the Saints with a defensive issue they cannot afford to let linger. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Backfield Suddenly Has A New Problem Ahead Of Vikings Game
The Saints backfield took another hit when Travis Etienne Jr. left the game against the Raiders with a hamstring injury, adding to a running back picture that has already been unsettled. It comes at a rough time for New Orleans, which has leaned on depth and flexibility at the position while trying to keep the offense moving through the early part of the season.
Minnesota made the situation even more interesting by signing former Saints backs Devin Neal and Audric Estime to its practice squad after both were released by New Orleans because of injuries. With the Vikings set to visit in Week 5, there is at least a chance the Saints could be looking across the field at two familiar names, even as they wait to find out how serious Etiennes setback turns out to be. [Read more 🡒]