Our offseason opponent breakdown series on theRams.com wraps up with Los Angeles' Week 17 Monday Night Football matchup against the Atlanta Falcons (Week 17, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Dec. 29, 5:15 p.m. PT, ESPN).
2024
Raheem Morris' first season as the Falcons' head coach (in a non-interim capacity) resulted in an 8-9 record. Atlanta missed the postseason, but the Michael Penix Jr. era officially began in Week 16 when he took over for veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. Atlanta tied with the San Francisco 49ers for 13th in scoring offense with 22.9 points per game and ranked 23rd in scoring defense with 24.9 points per game.
Key changes
The Falcons' biggest addition was the signing of outside linebacker Leonard Floyd on a one-year deal. Atlanta has lacked an elite edge rusher for several years, and they seemingly made sure to remedy that by also drafting both Jalon Walker out of Georgia and Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, trading up with the Rams to take Pearce at 26th overall. Safety Jordan Fuller, defensive end Morgan Fox and inside linebacker Divine Deablo were added to the defense as well.
Atlanta also hired a new defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, who previously served in the same position with the Jets and was their interim head coach last season.
Head coach
Morris is entering his second season as the Falcons' head coach. He coached the Buccaneers from 2009-11, during which the team went 17-31. He was also the interim head coach of the Falcons for 11 games in 2020, going 4-7. He has an overall record of 29-47 as a head coach after the 2024 season.
What to watch for
Containing Bijan Robinson
The electric running back out of Texas racked up 1,887 yards from scrimmage, ranking fourth in the NFL last season. That accounted for 30% of the Falcons' offense, and with a full offseason to prepare with Penix, there's potential for even more improvement.
Robinson is also a threat in the passing game, totaling 431 receiving yards last season, so keeping track of him at all times will be paramount for the Rams in this late-season matchup. The second level of the Rams' defense will be tasked with containing the explosive Robinson, who reached 15-plus miles per hour more than any other rusher last season (79 times), according to Next Gen Stats.
