Bijan Robinson shines again, but Falcons' special teams falter in loss to Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Bijan Robinson made plays almost every time he touched the ball for the Atlanta Falcons.

And it still wasn't enough. Again.

The Falcons blew a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter and fell to the New York Jets 27-24 on Nick Folk's 56-yard field goal as time expired Sunday for Atlanta's sixth loss in seven games. It came on a day when Robinson had 193 yards from scrimmage.

“Bijan was awesome and amazing, as usual,” coach Raheem Morris said.

Robinson ran for 142 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught five passes for 51 yards. He also became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 50 receptions and 1,400 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three seasons, joining Matt Forte, Justin Jefferson, Herschel Walker and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Robinson also joined Tomlinson as the only players with at least 3,000 yards rushing, 1,500 yards receiving and 30 scrimmage touchdowns in their first three seasons.

But the latest standout performance by the Falcons' do-it-all running back came in another loss.

“It’s always tough to lose in this league and it’s a lot tougher when you don’t have production,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "I’m proud of the way Bijan played and the guys around him who helped him have a day like he had. Love any time a player can show what they’re capable of and I felt Bijan did that today.

“I just wish it had been in a win, and he does, too.”

It appeared it might be headed that way in the fourth quarter when the Falcons took a 24-17 lead on Cousins' 9-yard touchdown pass to David Sills. But Robinson touched the ball just once more — a 1-yard run — on Atlanta's last two possessions and had what was initially ruled a 5-yard catch changed to an incomplete pass after a video review.

The Jets, meanwhile, tied it with a 15-play, 65-yard drive and then won it two possessions later.

“It stings,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said of the Jets' tying score. “It was a drive that lagged on and shouldn’t have. We had many opportunities to close it out. Give them props. It is what is.”

As it has been at points this season, the Falcons' special teams were also a culprit in the latest loss.

Neither team was able to get anything going early, but New York broke through in the second quarter when Jamal Agnew fumbled a fair catch of a punt deep in Falcons territory and Breece Hall ran it in from 2 yards one play later to give the Jets the lead.

Atlanta also gave up an 83-yard kickoff return by Isaiah Williams that set up a field goal that tied it at 17 for the Jets early in the fourth quarter.

Zane Gonzalez, coming off being selected the NFC special teams player of the week in his second game with the Falcons, also missed a 50-yard attempt in the third quarter.

“We just haven’t played well,” Morris said of his special teams unit. “Today was a muffed punt, kickoff return. We haven’t covered like we are capable of covering. We have moments, we have times. We have not had the consistency you need to go out there and dominate field position. There’s a lot of different factors. We’ve got to do better.”

Morris, whose own seat is warming with each loss, bristled a bit when he was asked if there are thoughts of moving on from special teams coordinator Marquice Williams.

“You’d love to get rid of people today, but we don’t make emotional decisions, we know that,” Morris said. “We won’t talk about those things. We never do that. It’s not our code. It’s not our ethics. It’s not who we are. It’s not what we are. It’s not a decision, that’s not what we do today.”

When Morris was asked what his approach will be in the Falcons' final five games, the coach simply said: “To win them.”

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Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Jamal Agnew (14) fumbles the ball against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) is tackled against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) runs against the New York Jets during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) runs against the New York Jets during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A strike called by Portugal’s two main trade union confederations brought severe travel disruption Thursday and forced the cancellation of many medical appointments and school classes. Government and municipal services, including trash collection, were also badly hit.

The two labor groups representing close to a million Portuguese workers say it could be the country’s biggest walkout in more than 10 years as they contest the center-right government’s planned changes to employment laws.

The unions say the changes strip workers of entitlements, while the government argues they are needed to make the economy more supple and spur growth.

The proposed changes include making it easier for companies to fire workers, denying the right to strike in additional sectors of the economy and limiting breastfeeding breaks for mothers to the first two years of a baby’s life from the current open-ended dispensation.

Downtown Lisbon was strikingly quiet, with few pedestrians and light traffic compared to a usual weekday in the capital as some people went on strike and others worked from home to avoid the transport disruption.

At Lisbon international airport, dozens of flights were canceled as pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers walked out. The airport was open but largely deserted.

Flag carrier TAP Air Portugal operated only 63 of its 283 scheduled flights, in line with the minimum level of service required by law. The airline had previously warned passengers about the strike and offered to put them on other flights.

Train and bus services across Portugal also ran a skeleton service. The Lisbon Metro subway said services were suspended at 11 p.m. Wednesday and would resume only on Friday morning.

Private companies were also affected, with manufacturing and distribution companies reporting walkouts. Some Lisbon stores were closed.

It was the first time since 2013 that the umbrella groups — the General Workers’ Union and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers — have joined forces.

The government’s Minister for the Cabinet, António Leitão Amaro, said the strike had little impact on the private sector. “Most Portuguese are at work,” he said.

But unions, which staged street marches in the afternoon, pronounced the strike a success.

“We are seeing workers demand that the government withdraw this labor (reform) package,” Tiago Oliveira, head of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, said. The strike "says a lot about the government’s attack and this is the response of the workers.”

Portugal has one of the European Union’s smallest economies and its workers are among the lowest paid in the 27-nation bloc. The average monthly wage is around 1,600 euros ($1,870) before tax, according to the National Statistics Institute. The minimum monthly wage earned by hundreds of thousands of workers is 870 euros ($1,018) before tax.

The Portuguese are also being pinched by a housing and cost of living crisis, as property prices soar and inflation sticks at just over 2%.

The European Commission expects Portugal to achieve GDP growth of around 2% this year, above the EU average of 1.4%. Unemployment stands at under 6%, roughly the EU average.

Social Democrat Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has described the strike as “senseless” because the country is doing well.

Helena Alves and Armando Franca in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

Demonstrators gather outside the parliament during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. The sign held by the woman reads in Portuguese: "Down with precarious living conditions." (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Demonstrators gather outside the parliament during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Demonstrators gather outside the parliament during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. The sentence on the billboard was amended to read "prison for whom robs the people" (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Demonstrators gather outside the parliament during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Demonstrators use the light from their cell phones as they gather outside the parliament during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

City buses are photographed in a parking lot, during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

An employee walks alongside passenger trains parked at Campolide station, during a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Trucks sit idle at a garbage processing center in Lisbon at the start of a general strike on Wednesday night, Dec. 10, 2025, held to protest a new labor package announced by Portugal's center-right government. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

A screen shows departing flights, many cancelled, at Lisbon Airport, at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

A woman walks through a nearly deserted hall of the Lisbon airport at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Striking workers block the entrance to warehouses of the Portuguese postal services company stopping trucks leaving, at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, Wednesday night, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

A police officer negotiates with striking workers blocking the movement of trucks at the gate to warehouses of the Portuguese postal services company, at the start of a general strike to protest against a new labour package announced by the centre-right government, in Lisbon, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)