Atlanta Falcons @ New York Jets
Final Score: Jets 27, Falcons 24
Writer: Geoff Ulrich (@thefantasygrind on X/Twitter)
Sometimes, a couple of mediocre or bad teams get together and produce an entertaining game from the sheer holes in their defense, and the special teams gaffes they make every week, which allow big plays to materialize and make for a fun watch. That’s pretty much what happened in this game. Kirk Cousins‘ game was managed well, and he used his best players to get chunks of yardage against a bad defense and stayed away from any big mistakes. It wasn’t enough to get the win as Tyrod Taylor did much of the same and used his legs in the end to produce a late TD and get the Jets into field-goal range late, where Nick Folk hit a 56-yard Tiger Woods stinger to win it. The Jets won the game and effectively ended the Falcons’ season, but there is still tons to discuss from a fantasy perspective with Atlanta players.
Three Up
- Adonai Mitchell — Breakout game, looked like a legit No. 1 receiver.
- Bijan Robinson — Benefited from a checkdown-oriented QB.
- Kyle Pitts — Benefited from a checkdown-oriented QB and no Drake London.
Three Down
- Darnell Mooney — Couldn’t stand out even with London out.
- John Metchie III — Poor connection with Tyrod Taylor and suffers from Mitchell taking targets away.
Atlanta Falcons
Quarterback
Kirk Cousins: 21/33, 234 Yards, TD | 0 Carries, 0 Yards
Kirk Cousins didn’t do anything fabulous in this game. There was poor weather involved, so you weren’t expecting him to throw for 400 yards or anything, but he essentially just looked to check down on every throw if one of his WRs wasn’t wide open. That led to a ton of Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson catches, and given how great those two are after the catch, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Atlanta offensively. If the Falcons had any sort of defense, they would have won this game.
Cousins did make a few nice plays, like when he managed to shake off one defender long enough to get the ball outside to Tyler Allgeier, who turned a short pass into a big gain, but most of Cousins’ yards came after the catch.
Main takeaways for me are that Cousins is very good for Pitts and Robinson rest of the season, especially vs. poor defenses. Drake London will likely take away some volume from Pitts, but the two should be able to coexist. No one else matters in this pass game.
Running Back
Bijan Robinson: 23 Carries, 142 Yards, TD | 7 Targets, 5 Receptions, 51 Yards
Bijan Robinson did everything he could to win this game for Atlanta. On top of being a great checkdown target for Cousins, he managed to get the Falcons some big chunk plays in the middle of the field multiple times to set up scores. The first came on a simple handoff. He reversed field on and got well into the secondary. The other came on a checkdown, where he again reversed course for a 26-yard gain. He also punched in a short TD where, you guessed it, he reversed course in a tight space and beat everyone to the outside.
Robinson should be fine with Cousins the rest of the way, and is certainly good for 7-8 targets every week. I would have concerns about him for fantasy against a strong pass rush, as he might be called into block more, and not have the same opportunities he had this week in the red zone.
Tyler Allgeier: 8 Carries, 20 Yards, TD | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 35 Yards
Tyler Allgeier is such a great backup, likely the best in the league. He did get stuffed on a lot of inside runs, but also converted a 1-yard TD and had a great catch-and-run down in Jets territory that bailed out Cousins and went for 31 yards. Atlanta actually does well to get him 10 or more touches, considering it also has Robinson. Some teams like the Chiefs should make a play for him this offseason, but probably won’t.
He could benefit from a little more receiving work with Cousins down the stretch, but his rushing is taking a hit with Cousins as well, as teams are starting to stack the box more.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Kyle Pitts: 8 Targets, 7 Receptions, 82 Yards
Kyle Pitts had a very solid game and benefited from a more conservative QB who was ready to make the easy throws and let him do some work in space. Honestly, seeing him play in this game was a bit of a revelation, as he was working so well with Cousins that you wonder why the two didn’t work better last season.
Pitts’ best play came on the 24-yarder, where Cousin hit him in stride over the middle, and then Pitts just outraced everyone to the corner. He has great mobility for his size, and the defenders had to essentially push him out of bounds rather than tackle him. He also used his size well in this game, on little boxout plays for shorter gains. Hard to say where he goes from here, but with Cousins under center and Drake London potentially not 100% yet, he could be a big factor for fantasy down the stretch.
Darnell Mooney: 5 Targets, 2 Receptions, 25 Yards
Atlanta should cut Darnell Mooney. It signed him to be the 1A to London, and for situations like this, when London was out. He barely materialized in this game and couldn’t take advantage of a weaker secondary.
David Sills V: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 15 Yards, TD
I’d like to see David Sills V get more traction over Mooney the rest of the season. He made a really nice catch on a short screen in the red zone that he turned into a 9-yard TD after juking the defender. He’s more of a big-body possession receiver, but that works well with Cousins, and he’s already proven to have better hands than Mooney.
Dylan Drummond: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 3 Yards
New York Jets
Quarterback
Tyrod Taylor: 19/33, 172 Yards, TD | 8 Carries, 44 Yards, TD
Tyrod Taylor didn’t do much for most of this game. He averaged under 6 yards per attempt, but got lucky on a deep ball to Adonai Mitchell that he severely underthrew, so much so that it made the defender trip, and Mitchell was able to adjust well and catch it for a score. Mitchell actually had a step on the defender, so a well-thrown ball there would have scored as well. Overall, he worked his TE early and benefited from some special teams plays.
One thing Taylor did well late was move the ball with his legs, and it essentially won the Jets the game in the fourth quarter. He scored on a 10-yard run and then moved the ball close enough to where Nick Folk could put through the lowest trajectory FG I have ever seen from 56 yards.
Overall, not a great game, but he did what needed to be done late. He’s not a thing for fantasy unless you’re in some sadistic 18-team 2-QB league.
Running Back
Breece Hall: 19 Carries, 68 Yards, TD | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 8 Yards
Breece Hall played well for the most part. He couldn’t get going for big portions of this game, even against a weaker Atlanta run defense, which was concerning, but he did make some strong short-yardage runs that kept the chains moving for the Jets and also converted from short yardage. New York didn’t really take advantage of his receiving skills as much as I thought it might this week, but with Taylor under center, I’d look for Hall to be useful in PPR leagues down the stretch.
Overall, there weren’t many holes for him, but he ran hard when needed and was essentially the only back involved in the offense, which is a huge plus for him for fantasy going forward.
Isaiah Davis: 1 Target, 0 Receptions, 0 Yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
John Metchie III: 1 Carry, -2 Yards | 8 Targets, 4 Receptions, 19 Yards
John Metchie III took a pretty big step back in this game from his breakout performance last week. He did see eight targets, which is encouraging, but he couldn’t do much. Conditions are somewhat to blame, as the Jets had trouble connecting on throws of any kind for most of the game (outside of the ones to Mitchell), and Taylor doesn’t have great arm strength to begin with.
Overall, any receiver working in this offense is going to be hit or miss. Even when they were down seven late, the Jets kept running the ball and running the clock, which sort of tells you how this offense works. If New York is ever up, Metchie could really suffer as volume is keeping him afloat right now.
Overall, he’s in a nice spot with the lack of receivers the Jets have, but not a player to have a ton of trust in either.
Adonai Mitchell: 12 Targets, 8 Receptions, 102 Yards, TD
Adonai Mitchell finally showed up and displayed some of the great talent we are always hearing about. He acted as the primary target for Taylor, who decided to just play pitch-and-catch with Mitchell most of the game as he was hauling in everything, even his bad passes.
Everyone will see the long TD pass on replays this week that Mitchell adjusted nicely on, as it was severely underthrown by Taylor, and Mitchell did have his defender beat. However, I would say that might have been his easiest catch of the game. He had several tough, shorter throws in his direction that he hauled in while under pressure or on the sideline. Many of which he had to go down and scoop up or hold onto while getting hit. His best might have been a simple 5-yarder on the sideline that Taylor threw well behind him and that he adjusted to and grabbed while getting his feet down. It’s a play you’d expect Jaxon Smith-Njigba to make, but not Mitchell.
This may have been the coming-out party for Mitchell as a legit WR1. He really did make all the tough catches in this game, it just remains to be seen if he can do it again. The good news is that Taylor had no issues giving him 12 targets in this game, so we’re likely to see good volume down the stretch, given the Jets’ issues on defense. He’s a player worth watching, as it’s likely what he does the next few weeks will also affect his 2026 draft value.
Mason Taylor: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 21 Yards
He was the primary target for Taylor early on and had a couple of nice catches in the first quarter, before Mitchell got hot, but then he faded quickly. He still matters in this offense, but Metchie and Mitchell have taken away some of his upside for fantasy for sure.
Jeremy Ruckert: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards
Allen Lazard: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 10 Yards
Isaiah Williams: 1 Target, 0 Receptions, 0 Yards