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Falcons DeskThe TapeGame center →

Falcons ran for 157 yards and still gave up 17 points in the second quarter

Atlanta led 10-7 after one quarter, then went scoreless until the third as Cincinnati pulled away 34-17.

1734The TapeL 17–34vsBENGALS
By Falcons Desk, Pigskin NightlyNov 8, 1:40 PM ET3 min read

The deciding stretch

The second quarter decided it. Cincinnati scored 17 points to Atlanta's none, and a 10-7 Falcons lead became a 24-10 Bengals lead at the half. The Falcons lost 34-17 and are now 3-6.

The Bengals were three-point favorites, so a loss was no surprise. The way it happened was. Atlanta ran for 157 yards at 6.5 yards a carry, against 124 yards and 5.4 a carry for Cincinnati. The Falcons won the run game by 33 yards and lost by 17 points.

The difference was in the air and in the red zone. Cincinnati averaged 8.5 yards per pass and finished with 265 net passing yards. Atlanta averaged 5.2 and finished with 162. The Bengals went 3-for-3 inside the red zone, and the Falcons went 2-for-4.

The swing

The biggest single play came early. With 8:49 left in the first quarter, J.Burrow threw deep right to J.Chase for a 47-yard touchdown. Atlanta's win probability dropped 9 points on that one throw.

The Falcons had answered well up to that point. Bijan Robinson ran left end for 21 yards at 12:31 of the first quarter, worth 4 points of win probability. Michael Penix Jr. then scrambled left tackle for 23 yards at 7:14, worth 6 more.

The next swing went the other way. At 5:21, Penix scrambled up the middle for 6 yards to the Bengals 1. A holding call on M.Bergeron brought it back as a no play, with the 10 yards enforced from the Bengals 7, and Atlanta lost 4 points of win probability. The Falcons still finished the quarter with 10 points. They did not score again until the third.

Cincinnati's longest drive ran 10 plays and 88 yards for a touchdown. Atlanta's longest ran 7 plays and 80 yards for a touchdown. Both teams had nine drives. The Bengals scored on six of them and the Falcons on three.

Who moved the needle

Robinson carried 19 times for 100 yards and a touchdown, 5.3 a carry, with a long of 21. He also caught six passes for 47 yards on seven targets. Penix ran three times for 50 yards, 16.7 a carry. Khalil Herbert added 7 yards on his one carry.

Penix completed 20 of 31 passes for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception, a passer rating of 74.9. The Falcons turned the ball over once and the Bengals did not turn it over at all. Penix was not sacked. Drake London led the receivers with five catches for 68 yards, and Kyle Pitts Sr. caught three for 23.

The defense had a hard night against the pass. Jessie Bates III made 14 tackles, 11 of them solo, and Kendal Daniels had 8 tackles and a tackle for loss. LaCale London and Zach Harrison each had a sack, so Burrow went down twice for 6 yards. Cincinnati still converted six of 10 third downs, to Atlanta's five of 10, and picked up 15 first downs through the air.

Penalties added to it. The Falcons were flagged 12 times for 88 yards. The Bengals were flagged 6 times for 43.

Where it leaves them

Atlanta has lost two straight and is 1-4 at home. The Falcons have scored 188 points and allowed 223, a differential of minus 35. They sit third in the NFC South at 3-6, behind the Panthers at 3-4 and the Buccaneers at 3-5. The Saints are 2-5.

The run game is working. Robinson went over 100 yards and the Falcons averaged 6.5 yards a rush. The question is whether the offense can finish drives and keep the defense off the field when the Falcons are not scoring. Two of four red zone trips ended in points, but not touchdowns.

Next up is the Kansas City Chiefs at home on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1:00 PM ET on CBS. Atlanta is currently a 3-point underdog to the Chiefs.

How this was reported. Every number in this piece comes from the play-by-play, drive, injury and snap data Pigskin Nightly collects for every game. EPA (expected points added) is from the open nflverse model. We do not use anonymous sources or invent quotes. Read how we write; spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it in the open.