Brian Robinson shines in Commanders win over Falcons
Breaking down Robinson’s breakout performance against Atlanta.
Running back Brian Robinson had a breakout performance on Sunday in the Washington Commanders victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Robinson ran for 105 yards on 18 carries at an average of 5.8 yards per carry. On top of that, he caught two passes for 20 yards and a touchdown. That is by far his best statistical output of the season from a total yards and yards per carry standpoint, but even they don’t quite tell the full story.
Robinson’s story is well known at this point after he was shot twice towards the end of preseason, but miraculously only missed four games before returning to the field. Since then he’s shown flashes of the potential that the Commanders saw when they drafted him in the third round, but he’d yet to put it all together. That is until this week. From the very first run against the Falcons, it was clear to see Robinson was running with more confidence.
This was Robinson’s first run of the game. The Commanders call for a counter run scheme with the left guard pulling to kick out the edge defender while the tight end follows behind him and works up to the second level. The Falcons defenders on the second level all read the pull of the guard early and quickly shuffle over to the right side of the line to fill their gaps. However, as Robinson secures the hand off, he can see that too many defenders over pursue the run to the edge. He sticks his foot in the ground and makes a cut inside, following his tight end and around the downblock from right tackle Cornelius Lucas. Robinson then feels the support coming from the back side of the defense and bounces back outside, fighting through contact on his way to a nice five yard gain.
We’ve seen Robinson make a few nice cuts and fight through contact to maximize every yard possible before, but here we saw an example of his vision and understanding of how the defense had over pursued to the edge, leaving space for him to work inside. Seeing that vision and reading of defenders along with the nice cut and the strength through contact was very encouraging, especially on the first play. It was a sign that Robinson was returning to the player he was at Alabama before the shooting in late August.
Another sign that Robinson was getting back to his best was his decisiveness. He’s shown some decisiveness in stretches this season, but often has a couple of plays a game where he’s a little indecisive which leads to him missing a lane or failing to make the most of the run. But against the Falcons, he was very decisive and it proved to be effective for him.
This time, the Commanders switch to a zone scheme with a tight end sifting back across the line. This is a nice switch up to the previous play as the tight end sift looks very similar to the pull we saw from both the guard and tight end on the previous play. The Falcons linebackers read that sift and instantly crash down towards the left side of the line. However, Robinson is working to the right side on a zone scheme. Before he’s even secured the ball he knows those linebackers are in the wrong gaps and he can hit this run to the right side. He picks his path and sticks too it, accelerating through the hole as he breaks an arm tackle from one defensive lineman before making the other miss with a spin. Two more defenders close on him to wrap him up and bring him down, but Robinson keeps his legs pumping and ensures he falls forward to secure every possible inch he can on the play.
Robinson ran with great vision, decisiveness and strength early on in this game. It became clear he was really feeling it when he caught his first pass.
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