How the Chicago Bears Contained Running Back Bijan Robinson

Falcons running back Bijan Robinson entered the Week 6 matchup against the Chicago Bears as the NFL's leading rusher. 

Leading up to Sunday's game, Bears head coach Ben Johnson said Robinson was "leading the charge for MVP." Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen described him as "one of the best backs" in the league. Veteran defensive lineman Grady Jarrett, who played two seasons with Robinson, said it would take "a whole unit to attempt to slow down a special player like Bijan" with his "God-given ability."

The Bears knew exactly the type of challenge that was ahead of them. 

Robinson finished the game with a season-low nine rushing attempts for 61 yards in the 31-23 loss to the Bears. His longest run on the day was a 23-yard gain in the second quarter. 

What helped Chicago's defense contain one of the NFL's best playmakers was the Bears' offense. The unit started the game with back-to-back touchdowns, putting immediate pressure on Atlanta. 

Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor highlighted how building that early cushion impacted the Falcons' running back. 

"Building a 14-0 lead, kind of being able to control the pace of the game and the way it was flowing, not letting Bijan get 35 carries," Taylor said. "We felt like as an offense, we were part of the game plan there to limit their offense."

The Bears' defense was without defensive ends Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo and starting linebacker T.J. Edwards. Despite the defense missing some key members, the unit still executed the plan that defensive coordinator Dennis Allen created for Robinson. 

"That's easier said than done," Allen said. "There's a couple plays in the game where we didn't play it the way that we needed to play it or execute it the way we needed to execute it and he hurt us. So it really went down to just the guys that we had in the game, for the most part, of executing the plan and doing it the right way. And listen, guys flew around to the football. We knew it was gonna take all 11 to be able to stop that guy. And look, we also knew it was gonna be a team game with the fact that we were able to get out to a lead, didn't allow them to just continuously try to run the football. So it's a lot easier to stop him when he only touches the ball I think nine times in the run game. So I think all those things played a factor."

Having nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon in the lineup allowed Allen to get creative on defense. Gordon beat Robinson around the edge on two of his three sacks. 

On the Falcons' first offensive possession of the game, defensive tackle Kentavius Street made a 5-yard tackle for loss on a screen pass to Robinson. That set the Falcons' offense back to a third-and-9, and Atlanta eventually punted. 

Backup linebacker Noah Sewell made a 3-yard tackle for loss on another screen pass to Robinson on the next defensive series. Core special teamer Daniel Hardy sacked quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Rookie safety Dillon Thieneman added another. 

Players stepped up, and that's exactly what needed to happen for a defensive unit down some key starters. 

“I was pleased with how the group played," Allen said. "You had guys that had to come in and step up and make plays. Clark Phillips came in and did some good things. Obviously Kyler did some good things. James Lynch played a significant portion of the game and had to do a really good job for us. I thought Daniel Hardy did a good job when it got to some of the rush stuff. I thought there was a couple of really good rushes that he had. I think everybody understood that they had to step up and up their game a little bit and I thought the guys responded.”