Falcons 2025 Season in Review

57 sacks. The Atlanta Falcons finished second in the entire league in sacks this season — 90-seventh percentile, a top-three pass rush in football. Here's how that pass rush carried a defense playing quietly winning football, how Bijan Robinson turned into one of the most efficient backs in the NFL, and the one number on third down that explains why the season ended at eight and nine instead of in January. Eight wins, nine losses, third among NFC non-playoff teams. The Falcons muffed the postseason — again — but the bones of this thing are more interesting than the record suggests.

Let's frame the team by the numbers. Atlanta's offense finished with −22.1 expected points added on the season — how much every offensive snap added or subtracted from their scoring chances — ranking 20-fourth, 20-eighth percentile. The defense came in at −3.9 expected points added allowed — and remember, on defense, a negative number is a good thing — good enough for fifteenth, slightly above average. The killer stat is third down. Atlanta converted just 70 of 205, 34.2 percent, thirtieth in the league, ninth percentile. Bottom-three football on the most important down. And the season had real variance — blown out by 30 in Carolina in Week 3, lost by 28 to Seattle in Week 14, then closed on a four-game winning streak. Boom-or-bust, with the boom showing up too late.

Now let's talk about the passing offense. Two-quarterback season, and neither version pushed the pace. Atlanta averaged 217.8 passing yards per game on team passing expected points added of −6.6 across 574 attempts — 30-eighth percentile, below average but not catastrophic. The bigger problem was protection and accuracy: 26 sacks allowed at a 4.4 percent rate, 20-eighth in the league, and both quarterbacks finished below expected completion percentage — Michael Penix Junior at −3.2, Kirk Cousins at −1.9. The unit verdict: Kyle Pitts smashed his role as the security blanket — 88 catches, 928 yards, five touchdowns, the team's leading receiver by a wide margin. The signature play was Cousins to Pitts on third and seven from the seven, fourth quarter, Week 15 in Tampa — a red-zone touchdown that punctuated a one-point road win. That's the passing offense in a sentence: not enough big plays, but Pitts kept drives alive.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense. Here's where it gets weird. Atlanta ran for 4.5 yards per carry — eighth in the league, 70-eighth percentile — and 125.9 yards per game. By the per-carry number, this was a top-10 rushing attack. But the rushing expected points added was −19.2, 20-second in the league. How do those numbers coexist? Volume and situation. The Falcons ran a lot, often in spots where running was the wrong call by game state. Bijan Robinson was the engine — 287 carries, 1478 yards, 5.2 a carry, seven rushing touchdowns, +79 catches for 820 more yards. His rush yards over expected: +257.1 on the season, +0.9 per attempt, seventh among qualified runners. Robinson smashed — boom-or-bust by design, with the booms big enough to carry it. The signature: Week 17, second quarter, first and 10 on his own seven, Robinson hits the right tackle gap and runs 93 yards to the house against the Rams. One cut, one explosion, six points.

Next up, the pass defense. This is the unit that should keep the lights on in Atlanta. 57 sacks, second in the league, 90-seventh percentile. Passing expected points added allowed of −16.87 — again, big negative on defense is a real positive — 60-third percentile. They got home consistently and they generated negative plays. 21 takeaways at 1.2 per game, 70-eighth percentile. Steady floor, high ceiling. The play that captured the unit's identity came in Week 18 against New Orleans, fourth quarter, Saints driving to tie or take the lead, third and seven from the Atlanta 20 — Tyrice Shough drops back, throws short left, and DeMarcco Alford jumps the route at the 14 and returns it 59 yards. Game over, division win secured. Pressure, pick, finish.

And the run defense. This is the soft spot. Atlanta allowed 126.8 rushing yards per game, with rushing expected points added allowed of +12.95 — on defense, a positive number is bad — 20-fifth percentile, bottom of the league. 12 rushing touchdowns surrendered. The Week 3 shutout in Carolina and the Week 8 34 point hammering at home to Miami were both games where the run defense got moved off the ball. A top-three pass rush should not be paired with a bottom-eight run defense — and that's the cleanest reason the Falcons finished one game under 500 instead of one game over.