GLENDALE — The Falcons-Cardinals game ended in ridiculous and familiar fashion Sunday. The Cardinals took knees just outside the goal line, ran the clock down to two seconds and kicked the winning, walk-off field goal. Didn’t we just see this 25 hours earlier in Boulder?
Players and staff members from both sides then converged on the field at State Farm Stadium to exchange the usual “Good game” and “Good luck” greetings. After pausing for a picture with fellow rookie Paris Johnson Jr., Bijan Robinson made his way behind the Atlanta bench to see his people.
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
CBS reported that 114 Robinson supporters took two buses up I-10 from Tucson to participate in his homecoming game. “There was way more than just that,” Robinson asserted afterward.
The Salpointe Catholic High School grad was determined to make them all feel special.
Robinson gave high-fives. He shook hands. He signed jerseys. He took selfies.
Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson had a career-high 24 touches in his homecoming game against the Cardinals on Sunday. He rushed for 95 yards and scored a touchdown in the Falcons’ 25-23, last-second loss.
Matt Haley, the Falcons’ director of football communications, reminded Robinson that he had to join the rest of the team in the locker room — eventually, anyway. Robinson knew it, too. So then it was Bijan on the move — slapping hands with everyone leaning over the front-row railing as he jogged down the sideline, behind the end zone and into the tunnel.
“He would stay out there and sign every autograph,” Haley told me a few minutes later. “That’s just who he is.”
Robinson was disappointed in his performance. Not what he did on the field — a career-high 22 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’ 25-23 defeat. He wished he could have accommodated everyone who came to see him.
“I was trying to get everybody,” Robinson said. “It’s something that I need to work on. I’ll get better at it. ... That’s just how much those people mean to me, especially here.”
Robinson last played a football game in the state of Arizona on Nov. 23, 2019. Salpointe lost in the semifinals of the Open Division playoffs at Chandler Hamilton.
Robinson would become a star at Texas, the best running back in America, before being selected with the eighth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. No Tucsonan ever had been picked higher.
Fame and success don’t appear to have changed him a bit. Robinson remains the generous, gracious, humble, spiritual person he’s always been — a beast on the field, a gentleman off it.
“He’s a great guy, man. One of the best dudes I’ve ever been around,” said Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, who granted Robinson’s request to wear the famed No. 7 ATL jersey.
“Obviously, the 1% of talent in the NFL on the field — but off the field as well. He’s one of a kind, and we’re lucky to have him.”
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith can do no right with the fantasy football community when it comes to rookie running back Bijan Robinson.
Reality > fantasy
Robinson seemed to have mixed emotions while speaking to reporters in the locker room after Sunday’s game. He was thrilled to be back home — but bummed he couldn’t help deliver a victory for the suddenly floundering Falcons. Atlanta has lost three straight games — by five, three and two points — after starting 4-3.
The Falcons lost again despite Robinson getting a career-high 24 touches. His usage, or lack thereof, has been one of the hottest topics in Atlanta and across the nation — the fantasy football nation, that is.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith has become the scourge of the fantasy community because he can’t seem to find a way to get Robinson, receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts — three top-10 picks — sufficient touches. Some contend it’s intentional. That would be more believable if the ends of Smith’s mustache were curled, cartoon-villain style.
Robinson was asked about this, of course. He made it pretty clear that what’s most important is helping his team win, not yours.
“Whatever I need to do for the team to try to get a win,” Robinson said when asked about his workload. “But obviously that doesn’t matter if you don’t win the game.
“What we did today, it was great. But still, we lost.”
Robinson’s comments about Smith say a lot about the 21-year-old rookie. Deep down, Robinson might be frustrated about his role. I’m sure Pitts is too, despite telling me that he and his teammates “don’t listen to the outside noise,” and “it’s about us” and “we know what’s going on in between these walls.”
You could sense empathy when Robinson talked about his coach. Robinson acknowledged that “people give him grief and stuff.” Robinson defended him as if he were a family member.
“He’s making me feel comfortable in the game,” Robinson said. “He doesn’t want to just throw me out there. ... He wants to do it the right way. He knows I’m a rookie.”
Atlanta Falcons running back and Tucsonan Bijan Robinson, left, celebrates his touchdown with teammate Tyler Allgeier against the Cardinals in Glendale back in November.
Where’s Bijan?
Smith clearly respects Robinson’s football acumen. He lined up all over the formation Sunday. Robinson was in the backfield for 38 snaps, in the slot for 14 and out wide for one, per Pro Football Focus.
Playing “Where’s Bijan?” can be both fun and maddening. He wasn’t on the field for two fourth-and-1 attempts on the opening drive of the fourth quarter. Smith had QB Desmond Ridder sneak both times. The first was successful; the second wasn’t.
Watching those plays unfold, I couldn’t help but think of USC’s infamous fourth-and-2 failure against Texas in the Jan. 4, 2006, national championship game. The Trojans took Reggie Bush off the field for that play — the same Reggie Bush whom Robinson grew up admiring and emulating.
Taking Robinson off for the most important plays of the game? Not wise.
Robinson showed how special a talent he is in the second quarter. With the Falcons at the 5-yard line, Robinson took a handoff out of the I-formation. He started up the middle before darting to the right and into the end zone. Do you know how hard it is to get to the edge against an NFL defense — even the Cardinals’ defense?
It was a dynamic run and a perfect call by CBS’ Spero Dedes: “The Tucson kid coming back home!”
Fantasy managers across the land were thrilled; Robinson got the rock in the red zone.
But if you really want to talk about fantasy, just look at Robinson’s life: The kid is living a dream.
“It was so awesome,” he said of being back in Arizona. “Just seeing all the people that came here and supported me that’s been supporting me my whole life. It was definitely such a blessing to play in front of them.
“At the end of the game I tried to give them all high-fives and do whatever I could to show my appreciation. It was so awesome to be here and to show the Arizona kid they’ve been watching since high school is still playing — now trying to represent them.”
Robinson isn’t just trying. He’s succeeding.
