Why Lions' Aidan Hutchinson Was 'Surprised' by Falcons Run Game

This weekend, the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Detroit Lions, and the fashion in which it occurred surprised not only fans but opposing defender Aidan Hutchinson.

The Atlanta Falcons lost to the Detroit Lions 20-6, and how their offense was shut down even caught opposing defender Aidan Hutchinson off guard.

“I’m surprised they got away from [running] it more,” Hutchinson said. “I thought they were going to – especially in the second half, get back to – that’s their foundation is that bounce run game. I thought they were going to get back to it, but they didn’t. I thought we did a good job stopping the runs that we got. But it was not the game I expected it to be.”

Atlanta seemed like a juggernaut running the ball offensively through the first two weeks. It looked as though the bread and butter of this offense was running the football, and dominating the time of possession by feeding their running backs would be how this team would continue winning football games.

Atlanta Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier gets tackled in a game where the Detroit Lions held him to 2.2 yards per carry

However, as Hutchinson pointed out, against the Lions, it seemed as though the team abandoned their strength on offense. A week after rushing the football 45 times for 211 yards, the Falcons were limited to just 44 total rushing yards on an abysmal 2.2 yards per carry.

In basketball, there’s a commonly used expression; “shooters gotta shoot,” meaning that whether or not you find success with your strength early on, you’ve gotta stay committed to trying to make it work. 

On Sunday, it seemed as though Atlanta gave up on their shot, so to speak. Pivoting from feeding the ball to its talented running back tandem of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier and, in doing so, lost the best opportunity they had at winning the game. 

If the Falcons want to bounce back from their loss, they’ll need to get back to playing their brand of smash-mouth football so that they can feel at home despite playing across the pond against the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend in London.