Key takeaway: Special teams hurt the Falcons in New York.
More: First, the unit set up the Jets’ opening touchdown in the second quarter after Falcons returner Jamal Agnew muffed a punt. The Jets recovered and took over at the 2-yard line, where running back Breece Hall closed the gap on the very next play to push New York ahead early. Then, Falcons kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter that would have given Atlanta the lead. Instead, the Falcons and Jets remained tied 14-all. Gonzalez later made a 52-yard field goal to close out the third quarter, but then the Falcons gave up an 83-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that set up a game-tying 32-yard field goal for Jets kicker Nick Folk.
Key moment: There were really two, both of which have already been addressed. There was the Falcons’ muffed punt in the second quarter and the Jets’ massive punt return in the fourth quarter. Those special-teams errors led to 10 points for New York. Otherwise, Atlanta’s defense only allowed two touchdowns, which normally should be enough to give the offense room to pull off a win.
Standout performance: Bijan Robinson. The running back totaled 193 yards from scrimmage and scored one of the Falcons’ three touchdowns. His 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter gave him 30 touchdowns in his career and made him the fastest Falcons player to reach 30 touchdowns all time. He did so in 46 games.
More: Robinson had 90 rushing yards in the first half, giving him 654 rushing yards in all first halves combined this season. That’s the most by any player in the NFL through the 1 p.m. ET games. Buffalo Bills running back James Cook entered the 4:25 p.m. ET window with 618 first-half rushing yards.
Number to know: 33%. The Falcons converted four of their 12 third-down attempts. Atlanta entered with a 33.1% conversion rate, which ranked 29th in the NFL. Since the Falcons’ five-game losing streak began in Week 7, they have a 23.8% conversion rate, which is lowest in the league.