The Atlanta Falcons have struggled all season regardless of the opponent, but have come to play on primetime all season long. When the game is nationally televised and there are significantly more eyes watching the Falcons than normal, their offense has looked like a well-oiled machine at points.
Atlanta's 27-24 victory on the Rams on Monday Night Football marked their fourth of the season on primetime, meaning more than half of their victories have come in primetime. And despite nearly blowing a 21-0 lead, making a statement against a perennial Super Bowl contender is nothing to look past.
The #Falcons were 4-1 in primetime this season.
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 30, 2025
The defense forced likely MVP frontrunner Matthew Stafford into three interceptions, most likely handing the award to Drake Maye after his worst start of the season. That in itself was impressive, but the fact that Raheem Morris and company shut down his former team on national TV was sensational.
Falcons were one of the best teams in the NFL in primetime this season
Given the Dirty Birds hardly fielded together a competent unit on Sunday afternoons, rising to the occasion at night was incredibly perplexing. And knowing that three of their four primetime victories came against supposed superior opponents has made a great feeling taste that much sweeter now.
The Falcons beat the Rams, Bills. Vikings, and Bucs in primetime games this season, while their sole primetime loss came in a second-half collapse against the 49ers—and even that game was close. For a team that was controversially given five primetime games, they certainly displayed their worthiness to be scheduled in those games.
Moreover, the victory also came with an interesting milestone for Kirk Cousins. The 37-year-old struggled to perform on primetime to open his career, losing his first nine MNF games, but has won six of his last seven since after notching his first Monday night victory all the way back in 2020.
The Falcons were also 2-0 on Monday nights this season against arguably their two toughest opponents in the Bills and Rams. In both of those games, they were cast-off as significant underdogs, but in typical Raheem Morris fashion, they twice found a way to flip the entire NFL world on its head.
And it was Bijan Robinson who willed the Falcons to victory in both of those games with two highlight-worthy long touchdown runs and 200-yard scrimmage games against two elite defenses, while he did more of the same in the win over the Bucs, even if Kyle Pitts stole the show that night.
This season hasn't gone the way many expected in some regard (which makes sense since they should again be a playoff team), but fans can't help but smile at the fact that they took down two MVP favorites during an ESPN broadcast knowing the additional primetime games were well worth it.