By Josh Kendall, Vic Tafur, Tashan Reed and Alex Andrejev

The Atlanta Falcons can breathe a sigh of relief after falling four games behind and picking up a much-needed 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday to stay in postseason contention.

Bijan Robinson, who gained 125 of the Falcons’ 168 rushing yards, provided much of the offense, while Kirk Cousins ​​threw a touchdown pass to Drake London in the first half to end the quarterback’s touchdown drought spanned his team’s last four defeats. However, Cousins ​​was still unreliable, extending his streak of games with an interception to five (his total was nine in that span).

The win is particularly a credit to Atlanta’s defense and special teams, as Las Vegas struggled to get going for most of the game against its former team with Desmond Ridder at center. For the most part, the Raiders’ offense didn’t look like a threat until Ridder threw two long balls into the end zone to give Las Vegas the go-ahead. However, the Falcons sealed the game when Jessie Bates III caught the last cast.

The loss marks Las Vegas’ 10th straight and drops the team to 2-12 in a losing season as the franchise looks ahead to 2025. The Falcons improved to 7-7 and remain second in the NFC South behind the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Robinson shines as Cousins’ slump continues

The Falcons’ offense has been uninspiring, but at least Robinson is there. The Falcons’ second-year defensive lineman surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career. The No. 8 pick in the 2023 draft now has 1,102 yards on the season, ranking fifth in the league. Robinson is also fifth in the league in offensive touches with a total of 288 carries and receptions. His 1,513 yards of offense rank third in the league.

Meanwhile, Cousins ​​threw his first touchdown pass since Week 9 but didn’t do much else to make anyone feel like he was out of his slump. Cousins ​​completed 11 of 17 passes for 112 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a quarterback rating of 78.6. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer

The Falcons defense had Ridder’s number

Coach Raheem Morris was blunt in his assessment of Ridder’s abilities after trading the QB to Arizona for wide receiver Rondale Moore in March. The Falcons equally despised Ridder with Monday night’s game plan.

Playing primarily with five-man defensive fronts, a departure from its usual lineup, Atlanta packed the defensive box to protect against the run and challenged Ridder to throw the ball. It worked despite a late rally in Las Vegas. Ridder finished 23 of 39 for 208 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 60.6. The Raiders had 249 total yards, an average of 3.8 yards per play. Still, Las Vegas stayed alive until the end and Ridder threw a Hail Mary that Bates intercepted in the end zone on the final play.

The Falcons signed Ridder in the third round in 2022 and started 17 games under former coach Arthur Smith. They were 8-9 in those games, and Smith ultimately sat out Ridder in favor of Taylor Heinicke toward the end of the 2023 season. — Kendall

Atlanta’s special teams are the key to the close game

The Falcons’ special teams have been a net negative this year, primarily due to missed field goals. They rank 29th in the league in expected points on special teams (minus-25.58), but Monday was a good day.

KhaDarel Hodge blocked a punt and tipped another, and Kevin King blocked an extra point attempt. Additionally, Bradley Pinion pinned Las Vegas inside its 10-yard line three times to start drives. One of them resulted in a safety when Zach Harrison tackled Raiders running back Alexander Mattison in the end zone in the second quarter. — Kendall

Ugly night for Las Vegas

The Raiders knew they would have trouble moving the ball Monday night because they were relying on their third quarterback, Ridder, who they signed from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad. And the Falcons went all out to shut down running back Sincere McCormick before he left the game with an ankle injury.

But the surprising thing about the loss was that the Raiders’ special teams were terrible. AJ Cole had two punts blocked, although one wasn’t technically counted as a block because the ball went forward. The Falcons also blocked an extra point in the fourth quarter.

Ameer Abdullah had a fair catch at the 3-yard line, leading to a safety as the Raiders passed the ball out of the shotgun on consecutive plays. Daniel Carlson hit a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter to prevent a shutout. — Vic Tafur, Raiders beat writer

Which leaves Raiders with the No. 1 draft pick

The Raiders moved closer to the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft as they face the New York Giants (2-12).

Despite having the same record, the Raiders are projected to have the weaker schedule, according to Tankathon, which calculates strength of schedule including all 17 games. If it stays that way, they would “win” the tiebreaker and secure the title as the worst team in the NFL. For now, however, the Giants still have a slight schedule advantage since The athleteAustin Mock’s model gives the Giants a 43 percent chance of getting the top pick and the Raiders a 40 percent chance. The Raiders’ position in the race for the No. 1 seed is about the only compelling thing to watch as they finish their final three games of the season.

Quarterback is obviously the Raiders’ biggest need heading into the offseason. If they land the top pick, no one will stand in their way. — Tashan Reed, Raiders beat writer

Required reading

(Photo: Candice Ward/Getty Images)