Watching Falcons coach Arthur Smith touch the top of his head in a panic—as the Fox broadcast crew questioned his decision to go for it on a gutsy fourth down—made it seem as if Smith had doubt in his players.
Perhaps Smith didn’t like that his offense rushed to the line of scrimmage on the critical fourth-and-1 play, but don’t let his sideline reaction fool you. Smith had faith in his inexperienced offense and displayed it throughout the 25–24 comeback victory against the Packers to improve to 2–0 on the season.
After quarterback Desmond Ridder was stopped short on third down, the Falcons trusted rookie running back Bijan Robinson to move the chains, which the No. 8 pick in the draft did after gaining seven yards on the ground. That killed more clock and set up Younghoe Koo’s 25-yard field goal that erased a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit and eventually won the game.
