Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated.
Marc Raimondi
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Marc Raimondi
ESPN Staff Writer
Marc Raimondi’s first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn’t his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book «Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling’s New World Order Changed America,» which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.
Dec 29, 2025, 11:25 PM ET
ATLANTA — It was the perfect synopsis of the Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 season.
The team showed flashes of brilliance. Running back Bijan Robinson was spectacular. The defense produced big plays.
And it almost didn’t matter. The Falcons squandered a three-touchdown halftime lead only to escape with a 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. A Zane Gonzalez 50-yard field goal with 21 seconds left resulted in the winning score.
Atlanta improves to 7-9, having won three straight and four of five.
Robinson had a career-high 229 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, one on the ground for 93 yards — a Falcons record — and one in the air. Xavier Watts, the rookie safety, had two interceptions. Safety Jessie Bates III had a pick-six.
Special teams was once again a major issue for Atlanta. A blocked Gonzalez field goal in the third quarter by Jared Verse was run back for a touchdown, which could have been a turning point. The defense could not get the stops it needed late, and the offense sputtered in the second half, squandering a 21-0 halftime lead.
But quarterback Kirk Cousins and Robinson led the Falcons on a fourth-quarter drive that was good enough to get into field goal position, and Gonzalez did the rest.
Here’s what to know from both teams after the Falcons beat the Rams on Monday night:
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