Zac Robinson has 2 Reasons for Atlanta Falcons Faltering Running Game

The Atlanta Falcons are in the midst of a three-game losing streak as they head to Germany to take on the 7-2 Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has come under fire of late as his team has struggled to find the end zone all season, and recently, has struggled to run the ball.

Head coach Raheem Morris calls rushing the ball the Falcons' lifeline, and everything plays off the running game. The Falcons haven't broken 75 yards on the ground in the three-game losing streak, and have seen their EPA per rush fall to 19th in the NFL.

Robinson feels the infrastructure is in place to be successful on the ground, it's just a matter of fixing the little things, and perhaps the numbers were skewed by having a short pass as an extension of the running game, but not counting towards the stats.

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"I think we'll continue to get it rolling like we're hoping," Robinson said. "There were some looks where we have kind of an RPO where we end up throwing a bubble out there to Bijan [Robinson] or any of our guys that, shoot, if we do hand it off, the run looks pretty good. But we'll always take those advantageous looks, especially to get to the ball to some of our guys in space."

Bijan had eight catches for 50 yards on 10 targets to go along with 12 carries for 46 yards. The Falcons either put the ball in Bijan's hands or attempted to, on 39.3% of their offensive plays.

"So, the rushing numbers, could they look different if a couple of those get handed off? For sure, but those runs of two, three, and four the other day typically just comes down to one guy, whether you're on the back side, the front side, it could be a receiver.

"There were some opportunities for those runs of two, three, and four to possibly be eight, nine, 10, 12. So obviously, we'll just continue to coach up the fundamentals, techniques, everything we're looking for, but we've definitely got to get a jump on that, especially this week."

So passes from a run-pass-option play and missed blocks are why the running game has looked subpar the last three weeks, according to Robinson.

The Indianapolis Colts' rushing defense has an EPA that ranks No. 13 in the NFL. They are No. 4 in the NFL in yards per game, but that number can be skewed a bit because of their potent offense. Teams are having to abandon the run early in games because of the Colts' No. 1 scoring offense at 32.2 points per game.

The Falcons will need to play complementary football in all three phases, offense, defense, and special teams, and that includes a run-pass balance that keeps them out of predictable situations, to pull off the upset in Berlin.

Atlanta is a -6.5 point underdog to the Colts, and the game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. EST on NFL Network and FOX 5 on Sunday morning.