Maybe the Falcons should petition the NFL to put all 17 of their games on prime-time television.
Seemingly, they come to play when everyone is watching.
Just ask the Los Angeles Rams.
The Falcons jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime and had to hold on to defeat the playoff-bound Rams, 27-24, in the face of a frenzied rally led by quarterback Matthew Stafford on Monday Night Football at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“That was a great team win,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “A great team effort.”
The Falcons improved to 7-9 on the season and the Rams dropped to 11-5.
Running back Bijan Robinson led the way for the Falcons, and Zane Gonzalez made a 51-yard field with 21 seconds remaining to secure the win.
Robinson rushed 22 times for 195 yards, including an electrifying 93-yard touchdown. He also caught five passes for 34 yards and a touchdown.
“That was a big-time explosive (play),” Morris said of the longest run in team history.
Kirk Cousins completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, finishing with a passer rating of 99.2.
“It’s fun to win on Monday Night Football,” Cousins said. “Great to see our whole team win as a team. Our defense really made a major difference. Special teams came up with some big plays. I really felt like we kind of leaned on one another.
“It feels good to be walking out here with a victory against a good football team.”
Stafford was 22-of-38 for 269 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and a passer rating of 64.5. The Falcons took away his top receiver, Puka Nacua, and held him to five catches for 47 yards.
“We knew he was a game-wrecker coming in,” Falcons safety Xavier Watts, who had two interceptions, said. “He’s having a big season. We wanted to limit him as much as possible. We were excited about it.”
In their spotlight prime-time games, the Falcons had wins over the Vikings and Bills on national television.
Things were in the balance until Gonzalez’s kick and A.J. Terrell found Nacua for a contested catch.
“I was going out there and doing my job,” Gonzalez said. “The team set me up in a good position. I was just trying to go out there and capitalize in the game-winning situation.”
The Rams would have been on the fringe of field-goal range if Nacua hauled down a catch in Falcons territory. It initially was ruled a catch, but overturned by the replay official.
“I didn’t think he caught it all,” Terrell said. “So, I was confident when the ref was saying that he caught it, I was confident that it was incomplete. I looked at the replay and it was closer than I thought. He played it all the way to the ground and I did, too.
“I was lucky to be able to make the ball come out just enough. He’s a great receiver in this league, well-respected. We made the plays when it counted.”
Behind some electric running by Robinson and stingy defense, the Falcons held a stunning 21-0 halftime lead.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons’ offense put together a methodical 11-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Cousins converted on three third downs along the way before tossing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Robinson in the corner of the end zone.
The Rams went on the move, but on a fourth-and-1 from the Falcons’ 16-yard line, outside linebacker Khalid Kareem knifed his way into the backfield and dropped running back Kyren Williams for a 2-yard loss and a turnover on downs.
The Falcons’ next drive ended after there was a miscommunication between Cousins and tight end Kyle Pitts on third down. After the punt, the defense went back to work.
Safety Jessie Bates III intercepted an overthrown pass by Stafford and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to put the Falcons up 14-0 with 8:30 to play in the second quarter.
After another exchange of punts — Bradley Pinion hit a 61-yarder that had 4.83 seconds of hang time — the Rams had the ball back. Stafford tried to connect on a deep ball, but Watts came over and made the interception at the 7-yard line.
On the next play, Robinson slipped out of the left side of the line and broke free for a 93-yard touchdown run.
He made a guy miss and picked up some awesome blocks along the way.
Robinson cut inside of Rams linebacker Omar Speights at the 5-yard line. Center Ryan Neuzil and right guard Chris Lindstrom sealed the right side. Robinson cut inside of them while left guard Matt Bergeron sealed his man to the left side. Wide receiver Drake London came over from the right to block the safety, Robinson cut behind London’s block and was off to the races.
“That was just one of those plays where I had to make a guy miss in the hole,” Robinson said. “I was trying to find another crease and the crease came about. I was like, ‘Man I’ve got to take off.’”
He had to outrun Roger McCreary for the longest touchdown run in Falcons history. Warrick Dunn had a 90-yard touchdown run against the Giants in a 27-14 loss on Oct. 15, 2006.
“I was tired and just had to run as fast as I could,” Robinson said. “I kept looking back to see if I was free. I was free and we got the touchdown. That was a really big one for our team.”
The Rams added a 35-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis on their first possession of the third quarter to make it 21-3.
The Falcons answered with a 56-yard field goal from Gonzalez to make it 24-3.
Stafford rallied the offense for their first touchdown drive. He connected with tight end Terrance Ferguson for a 27-yard score to trim the lead to 24-10.
The Falcons drove down to the Rams’ 19 and were looking to take a 17-point lead, but they didn’t block Rams linebacker Jared Verse on the field-goal attempt.
He soared through the line and blocked the kick, and the ball bounced up to him and he ran 78 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Falcons’ margin to 24-17.
The Falcons got the ball back as play moved into the fourth quarter, where they have blown leads this season against the Bucs, Colts and Jets.
They were forced to punt and the Rams had the ball with 13:36 remaining in a one-score game.
When the Rams went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Falcons’ 27, Watts made his second interception and nearly scored. He stepped out of bounds and the Falcons were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when a referee ran into offensive coordinator Zac Robinson in the restricted area.
With his fifth interception, Watts tied Deion Sanders, who was a rookie in 1989, for most interceptions in a season by a rookie.
The offense couldn’t move the ball and had to punt it back to the Rams with 7:28 to play.
The Rams overcame a holding penalty that wiped away a 41-yard touchdown and scored on a 11-yard pass to Nacua with 2:46 to play and tied the game, 24-24.
The Falcons drove down for the winning field goal and held on.
The Falcons will host the Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to close out the season.
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