LAS VEGAS – The Atlanta Falcons got what they needed on Monday night, right? After losing their last four games, the Falcons needed a win. As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to rack up wins, the Falcons needed something to keep what’s left of their postseason hopes alive. And they got it, right? They defeated the Las Vegas Raiders in prime time. But has the path to victory eclipsed the victory itself?

That’s the question the Falcons have to deal with after a 15-9 loss to the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Frankly, the Falcons’ win in Vegas didn’t do much to boost confidence (in particular) in this offense’s ability to score points – the fundamental goal of any offense at any level of the game. Not for the first time this season, the Falcons escaped with a win without much of an offensive effort. This time they did so based on three themes.

• Special teams dominance This included a tipped punt, a blocked punt and an extra point as well as a few consistent returns in the kicking game.
• A defense intent on chasing the quarterback. Currently, the Falcons are the only defense in the NFL with an active streak of at least four sacks in three straight games. They have not achieved this feat since the 2004 season. Pass rush works.
• And now, let’s talk about it: The Raiders are currently inefficient as a team. Las Vegas entered this matchup in Week 15 against their best player (Maxx Crosby), on a nine-game losing streak (now 10 games) and with Desmond Ridder at quarterback (due to injuries throughout the room).

The kicker is that the Raiders were not a good team. The bigger elephant in the room is that the Falcons should have been a good team. And while there’s a lot to praise about this team’s performance (pass rush, Bijan Robinson’s production, KhaDarel Hodge’s special teams prowess), it’s all overshadowed by the overall lack of productivity from the offense.

On Monday night, the Falcons’ offense continued to attack. Whether it was because of a blocked punt here or a turnover there, field position was never an issue for the Falcons against the Raiders.

Of the Falcons’ 11 total possessions on Monday, they started six drives at their 40-yard line or better. Additionally, four of those attacks began in Raiders territory. The result of these four trips specifically? One punt, two made field goals and one missed field goal. Six points. That’s it.

The Falcons got into the end zone just once against a defense that ranked 25th in the league in red zone defense and 30th in points allowed per game. Despite having solid field position to start drives all night, the Falcons didn’t reach the red zone once. Not once.

The Falcons have an efficiency problem in the red zone. And they still couldn’t do it against one of the worst red zone defenses in the league. This will never bode well for a team looking to fulfill the potential it once held in its grasp.

“It’s simple, you have to score,” head coach Raheem Morris said after the game. “…I don’t care whether you play it in or throw it in, we have to be much more efficient and better at training and that has to happen for us in the long term and in the overall pattern of what we want to be and how we can be .

With Kirk Cousins ​​struggling to find consistency in the passing game, the Falcons relied heavily on the running game to hold their own against the Raiders. And although Bijan Robinson had a record day, it wasn’t enough.

“When the game started, we saw where the game was going. So it was more like we had to run the ball and get it out to get the points we want,” Robinson said, “but of course we have to.” We get the ball in the end zone and it’s there on us not to use many of them.