Falcons running back Bijan Robinson runs on the field after their win against the Colts on Sunday.
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The Bears have the best rushing defense in the NFL.
But they haven’t seen anyone like Bijan Robinson this season.
“Everything you want in a running back, he has,” said Bears rookie Roschon Johnson, who was Robinson’s backup at Texas.
The Falcons’ rookie has lived up to his status as the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft. The league’s second-youngest running back averages only 58.2 rushing yards per game, but his versatility is rare — only four other players at his position have run more receiving routes this season.
The Bears scouted him during the pre-draft process — and liked what they saw.
“He was incredible,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. “You talk about a guy that had every trait that you’re looking for in a running back. Simple as that. That’s it. Receiver, runner, blocker, athletic.
“He can run through you, run around you, make you miss. He was somebody that was dynamic — and there’s a reason why he was drafted as high as he was.”
He landed at the perfect place — on the run-first Falcons, who have used Robinson, Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson in an offense that ranks third in the NFL in carries and eighth in yards.
Robinson is coming off his best game of the season. Last week, he caught a season-high seven balls for 50 yards and added 12 carries for 72 yards. The Falcons will try to keep their playoff hopes alive Sunday at Soldier Field.
“They try to get the ball to him in any way they possibly can — jet sweeps, or he’ll line up at receiver,” Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn said. “A real challenge.”
Robinson forced eight missed tackles in a 29-10 win Sunday in Indianapolis. His 50 missed tackles forced this season trails only three players: Travis Etienne, Christian McCaffrey and Raheem Mostert.
“He’s got a lot of lean mass,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s got great contact balance and he’s got great acceleration. He uses his off arm really well in terms of the stiff-arms and those types of things. It’s going to be a big challenge for all of our guys.”
Robinson’s 597 yards after contact is 10th in the league.
“With tackling a guy like that, for me it comes down to having good eyes and being patient as a tackler and come in full speed … but you can’t stop your feet too much,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “Taking good angles, playing with aggression with speed, but also controlled and also having good eyes and having your eyes low on his hips.
“He can make a lot of juke moves, he can stop on a dime. With someone like that you have to be patient — but also still have controlled aggression.”
Part of what makes Eberflus’ defense so good against the run — the Bears have given up a league-low 1,272 yards and the third-fewest yards per carry, at 3.6 — is his emphasis on fundamentals. Eberflus stresses tackling at all three levels of the defense — and gang tackling against runners like Robinson.
“I think the best way to defend him is population,” safeties coach Andre Curtis said. “Obviously he tests leverage of defenders. He can stress the edge. He can stick his foot in the ground. He can make an abrupt cut. But the first guy has got to make a secure tackle, and then you’ve got to have population with the other guys swarming to the ball.
“Our goal is to get seven-plus guys on the screen in any given play. If we hold true to that, we’ll be OK. He’s a special player, and he’s going to be hard to stop, but we’re up for the challenge.”
The Bears haven’t allowed any player to run for more than 76 yards all season — and the 76 belonged to Lions running back David Montgomery, the former Bear, in Week 11. Only nine players have gained more than 50 yards. Among them: Lions rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, another first-round pick whom Sanborn said shares traits with Robinson.
“A rookie that’s super-elusive, super-shifty, can make cuts,” Sanborn said. “He gave us problems.”
Robinson could, too.
“Bijan is a great running back — pretty fast, he can break a lot of tackles,” defensive end Montez Sweat said. “But we always want 11 hats to the ball wherever the ball is.”
