Raheem Morris knows exactly how good Bijan Robinson is from their brief time together. Now the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator has to find a way to slow down the electric Atlanta Falcons star.
Morris coached Robinson as the Falcons’ head coach in 2024 and 2025. Asked Thursday about defending him in the run game, Morris was full of praise.
“It’s always helpful to know who people are, being around them and being what they are,” Morris said. “But I talked about Bijan last year. I talked about him being the best player in the NFL, and he certainly is arguably the best player in the National Football League. He’s special. He’s one of those guys. He’s a special talent that we see in this league and can do a bunch of different everything. I compared him to the guy that we happen to be with now [Christian McCaffrey], and he’s doing nothing but showing us the right way. Those guys train together; they know each other well. He’s one of those guys that can take this league by storm and do really special things. He’s going to present a big-time challenge for us this week, and we’ve got to go out there and accept it.”
But how do you stop him? It all comes down to not letting Robinson get started.
“You’ve got to keep him behind the line of scrimmage. You’ve got to swarm tackle this guy. You’ve got to get him on the ground," Morris said. "He’s as tough as it gets; he runs as fast as he wants. He’s going to be patient and find his spots. He’s a great human. You can tell him a bunch of different things, a lot about his accolades and what he’s been able to do, but they see it on tape. And we’ve got a bunch of competitive guys that look forward to the challenge of playing against great players every single week.”
The respect runs both ways, too. Robinson called Morris a “father figure” and a “big brother” Wednesday. Now, he'll have to face a 49ers defense that has allowed 541 rushing yards on 150 carries (3.6 per attempt) and ranks seventh in the NFL in both rushing yards and yards per carry allowed.
Robinson has 641 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 111 carries, plus 20 catches for 144 yards and a score, for 785 scrimmage yards this season. He ran for 145 yards at New Orleans and 194 at Green Bay. Now, he'll face a 49ers run defense that hasn't given up 100 yards to a team since Week 2 and hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher at all this year.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers coach explains how to stop Falcons RB Bijan Robinson