Bijan Robinson, Falcons finishing strong with 3rd straight win after elimination from playoffs

ATLANTA (AP) — Maybe the Atlanta Falcons just need to have more games in prime time.

The Falcons improved to 4-1 in prime-time games this season Monday night, upsetting the playoff-bound Los Angeles Rams 27-24 on Zane Gonzalez’s 51-yard field goal with 21 seconds left.

It was their second Monday night victory at home, the first coming against the Buffalo Bills in October.

Bijan Robinson put on another stellar performance, setting the franchise record for yards from scrimmage in a season after his 229 total yards pushed his season total to 2,255. He had an electrifying 93-yard touchdown run in the first half that was also a team record.

The win was the Falcons’ third straight since being eliminated from playoff contention and improved their record to 7-9.

“For us, we made it known, as soon as we got that elimination, that we’re going to finish this season off the right way, finish it off strong, so we can bleed into the next season because we’re all men,” Robinson said. ”We’re all men that love this game so much.”

The Falcons are finally making plays down the stretch to win one-score games, a trait that was missing midseason when they dropped the final three games of a five-game losing streak all by one score. The Falcons have now won three straight close games. After the Rams tied the game with 2:46 to play, quarterback Kirk Cousins directed the Falcons into field-goal range for the winning score. He hit Kyle Pitts for an 11-yard gain, then Robinson rushed three times for 19 yards to get the Falcons within range for Gonzalez to win it.

“I think the world of this football team,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “I think these guys are built for this. I told you earlier, I know we joke about it a lot, but I tell you, we have to find ways to win and they just found ways to win and they’re doing that now. When you’re talking about finding ways to win, you’re talking about people making plays, you’re talking about people doing exceptional jobs at a very high level and that’s what we are seeing.”

Special teams continue to be an issue in Atlanta. On Monday, it was a blocked field-goal attempt that brought the Rams back into the game late in the third quarter. The Falcons led 24-10 and lined up for a 37-yard field-goal attempt when Jared Verse broke through the line, blocked the kick, grabbed the loose ball and sprinted 76 yards for a touchdown to pull Los Angeles within 24-17. That was the Falcons’ sixth failed field-goal attempt of the season, which is tied for fourth most in the league. The Falcons also allowed a 38-yard kickoff return to Jordan Whittington and now are last in the NFL in kickoff coverage, allowing 30.4 yards per return.

How much higher can Robinson’s stock climb? Robinson’s 195 rushing yards were a career high. It was the fifth game this season Robinson has totaled at least 175 yards from scrimmage. No other player in the NFL has more than two this season. And as impressive as his 93-yard touchdown was, the three runs to get the Falcons in field-goal range in the final two minutes were just as vital to the victory.

Cousins has been unable to develop a connection with No. 1 receiver Drake London, who finished with one catch for 4 yards. When Cousins replaced an injured Michael Penix Jr. against the Panthers on Nov. 16, London had 113 yards after three quarters. In the fourth quarter and overtime with Cousins, London made just one more catch for 6 yards. In the two full games he’s played with Cousins since, he has just four catches for 31 yards after averaging 86.4 yards per game with Penix at QB.

DL Brandon Dorlus (left knee) left the game on a cart in the third quarter. Morris said after the game “it didn’t look good.” … CB Mike Hughes missed his second consecutive game with an ankle sprain.

5 — Interceptions by Falcons safety Xavier Watts, the most by a Falcons rookie since Deion Sanders had five in 1989.

The Falcons will close the 2025 season at home against the Saints (6-10).

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Atlanta Falcons safety Xavier Watts (31) intercepts a pass intended for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Xavier Smith (19) in the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris talks to reporters after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) carries for a long gain against Los Angeles Rams safety Kam Curl (3) in the second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) carries against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their walking trek across much of the U.S. to promote peace, even after two of its members were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle.

After starting their walk in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, the group of about two dozen monks has made it to Georgia as they continue on a path to Washington, D.C., highlighting Buddhism's long tradition of activism for peace.

The group planned to walk its latest segment through Georgia on Tuesday from the town of Morrow to Decatur, on the eastern edge of Atlanta. Marking day 66 of the walk, the group invited the public to a Peace Gathering in Decatur Tuesday afternoon.

The monks and their loyal dog Aloka are traveling through 10 states en route to Washington, D.C. In coming days, they plan to pass through or very close to Athens, Georgia; the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh; and Richmond, Virginia, on their way to the nation’s capital city.

The group has amassed a huge audience on social media, with more than 400,000 followers on Facebook. Aloka has its own hashtag, #AlokathePeaceDog.

The group's Facebook page is frequently updated with progress reports, inspirational notes and poetry.

“We do not walk alone. We walk together with every person whose heart has opened to peace, whose spirit has chosen kindness, whose daily life has become a garden where understanding grows," the group posted recently.

The trek has not been without danger. Last month outside Houston, the monks were walking on the side of a highway near Dayton, Texas, when their escort vehicle, which had its hazard lights on, was hit by a truck, Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh said.

The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said at the time. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”

One of the monks had “substantial leg injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Houston, Burleigh said. The other monk with less serious injuries was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston. The monk who sustained the serious leg injuries was expected to have a series of surgeries to heal a broken bone, but his prognosis for recovery was good, a spokeswoman for the group said.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that evolved from the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a prince turned teacher who is believed to have lived in northern India and attained enlightenment between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. The religion spread to other parts of Asia after his death and came to the West in the 20th century. The Buddha taught that the path to end suffering and become liberated from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation, includes the practice of non-violence, mental discipline through meditation and showing compassion for all beings.

While Buddhism has branched into a number of sects over the centuries, its rich tradition of peace activism continues. Its social teaching was pioneered by figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, who have applied core principles of compassion and non-violence to political, environmental and social justice as well as peace-building efforts around the world.

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Associated Press Writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed.

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk through Trilith in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Supporters watch Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

A woman reacts as Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk through Trilith in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)