GREEN BAY, Wis. — Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and two scores and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. returned from injury to ignite Atlanta’s stagnant offense, leading the visiting Falcons to a 35-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
Penix did not play in Atlanta’s first two games this season as he was still recovering from a torn ACL sustained last November. The third-year QB completed 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Half of those completions were to Drake London, who had nine catches for a career-high 194 yards.
Robinson, who carried 29 times and had runs of 55 and 31 yards, finished a yard short of his career high of 195 yards, set in 2025 against the Rams.
The loss prevented Green Bay (1-2) from setting a new NFL record for consecutive home-opener victories. The Packers had won 13 home openers in a row, matching the Miami Dolphins’ streak from 1976 to 1988.
Atlanta (1-2), which had scored just 16 points total in its first two games, erased an early 7-0 deficit with 27 consecutive points.
Zach Harrison blocked Trey Smack’s 47-yard field goal attempt that would have brought Green Bay even at 10-all. Penix then directed a 63-yard touchdown drive, hitting Austin Hooper with a 5-yard scoring toss to put the Falcons up by 17-7 with 59 seconds left in the half.
Green Bay’s first drive of the second half ended in the red zone on Jordan Love’s incompletion on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 8. The Falcons responded with a 92-yard drive, going in front 24-7 on Brian Robinson Jr.’s 7-yard run off the left side.
Penix hit London with a 68-yard pass to set up Nick Folk’s 31-yard field goal that put Atlanta in front 27-7 with just under 11 minutes left.
Love answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden to pull Green Bay within 27-14. Bijan Robinson’s 2-yard touchdown run followed by a two-point conversion put Atlanta up 35-14.
Love completed 28 of 53 passes for 312 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but the Packers managed just 17 yards on the ground on nine carries.
Green Bay took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter with a nine-play, 87-yard drive that was capped by Love’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson.
Bijan Robinson set up the tying touchdown with a 55-yard run to the Green Bay 5. Two plays later, he scored from 3 yards out to make it 7-7 with 1:32 left in the first period.
Folk’s 44-yard field goal put the Falcons in front 10-7 with 4:48 left in the half.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
