Falcons stun Bills behind dominant defensive performance

The Falcons picked up their biggest win since 2017 on Monday night with a convincing 24-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills — and they did it in a way people in Atlanta aren’t used to: led by their defense.

Atlanta entered the game as the only defense in the NFL that hadn’t allowed 300 yards in a contest. Still, it was fair to question the quality of offenses they had faced. J.J. McCarthy was making just his second career start, Bryce Young hasn’t accomplished much in three NFL seasons, and Marcus Mariota was filling in for Jayden Daniels.

Monday night’s opponent, however — Josh Allen, the reigning NFL MVP, and the Buffalo Bills — represented the ultimate litmus test. The Bills came into the Week 6 matchup having recorded 300 or more yards in all five of their previous games. Something had to give, and much to the surprise of those outside Atlanta, it was the Buffalo offense that broke.

After an opening 77-yard touchdown drive capped by a 19-yard strike to Dawson Knox, the Bills’ offense essentially disappeared for the rest of the half. The Falcons forced Buffalo to punt on their next four possessions — including two three-and-outs — and capped the half with an interception that nearly turned into seven more points for Atlanta.

The Falcons entered the locker room with a 14-point lead that easily could have been larger. But everyone knew the Bills wouldn’t just roll over. They opened the second half with another sharp drive, chewing up more than five minutes off the clock and cutting the deficit to seven.

After a Falcons punt and a missed field goal on their next two possessions, an all-too-familiar feeling began to creep through Mercedes-Benz Stadium — a place still haunted by the ghosts of past collapses.

But Monday was different for one reason: the defense refused to let the Bills breathe. The Falcons managed just three points in the second half, but on Buffalo’s final four drives, the results were turnover on downs, punt, punt, and interception — sealing what turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable win.

The Falcons became the first team this season to hold the Bills under 300 yards. The reigning MVP finished with just 180 passing yards and two interceptions, while the Falcons’ defense piled up four sacks on the night.

It was, without question, the most impressive defensive performance the Falcons have delivered in two decades. This is a suffocating group with talent at all three levels that thrives on creating chaos. When paired with a dominant rushing attack, it’s a formula built to win a lot of football games — even against the league’s best, something they showed the entire world on Monday Night Football.

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