Snap counts? You love them, we have them, it’s a simple sort of transaction. You especially love looking at them after a win.
Offense
Michael Penix Jr.: 70
Matthew Bergeron: 70
Ryan Neuzil: 70
Chris Lindstrom: 70
Elijah Wilkinson: 70
Drake London: 68
Kyle Pitts: 65
Casey Washington: 52
Charlie Woerner: 47
Jake Matthews: 38
Mike Jerrell: 32
David Sills V: 31
Tyler Allgeier: 22
Feleipe Franks: 3
Teagan Quitoriano: 3
KhaDarel Hodge: 3
The team’s torrid love affair with Sills continues. With Ray-Ray McCloud inactive, Sills was
the third receiver for much of the game, and did not receive a target while throwing some nice blocks. Casey Washington, who was targeted twice, also was a key blocking option. It’s fair to suggest that if Darnell Mooney isn’t going to be back, the Falcons have to figure out who they can throw the ball to in this receiving corps outside of Drake London, because neither Sills or Washington seems to be a consistent option in that regard.
The Falcons got good usage out of their tight ends, with Kyle Pitts grabbing the third-highest target share on the team (admittedly just four targets), Charlie Woerner continuing to be a blocking ace, and Feleipe Franks lining up under center a couple of times for some welcome trickery. Teagan Quitoriano also gives you a capable third blocking option, and if the receiving corps is going to continue to be somewhat of a crapshoot beyond London, the team will need to squeeze more juice out of Pitts in particular. They may want to try getting Franks a handful of touches per game, too.
Kudos to the offensive line, too, for weathering a tough matchup pretty well. That’s especially true for Mike Jerrell, who had to come into the game cold at left tackle for Jake Matthews and held up impressively well working against Joey Bosa and company.
Defense
Jessie Bates: 57
A.J. Terrell: 57
Mike Hughes: 57
Xavier Watts: 57
Kaden Elliss: 57
Divine Deablo: 57
Dee Alford: 38
David Onyemata: 35
Jalon Walker: 31
Ruke Orhorhoro: 30
Leonard Floyd: 30
James Pearce Jr.: 29
Zach Harrison: 27
Arnold Ebiketie: 24
Sam Roberts: 23
Brandon Dorlus: 16
DeAngelo Malone: 2
The big change in the secondary was Alford in at nickel for Billy Bowman Jr., who was out with an injury; Alford had previously started two games in place of an injured A.J. Terrell outside. All he did was earn a sack, pick off Josh Allen, and look comfortable and physical in a way he rarely did last year. Jimmy Lake owes that man a fruit basket.
The team’s unsung defensive line rotation is making a huge impact, and they’re doing so with heavy rotations that ensure fresh legs late in the game. Look at Harrison getting after Allen on the final Bills play of the game and forcing a bad throw for an interception, or Roberts stepping in as a fill-in and managing to sack Allen and play 23 productive snaps. Nate Ollie and Jeff Ulbrich deserve a ton of credit for bringing an aggressive mindset and heavy rotation, but I give these guys a ton of credit for making the most of their opportunities.
And kudos to Malone, who played just two snaps but made a game-sealing interception on one of them. The talent has always seemingly been there for Malone, and if he takes advantage of his opportunities, perhaps he’ll get a few more.
Special teams
DeAngelo Malone: 20
DeMarcco Hellams: 20
Mike Ford: 20
JD Bertrand: 20
Josh Woods: 20
Feleipe Franks: 18
Teagan Quitoriano: 17
KhaDarel Hodge: 15
Bradley Pinion: 14
Natrone Brooks: 12
Liam McCullough: 9
Jamal Agnew: 9
Zach Harrison: 8
Charlie Woerner: 8
Tyler Allgeier: 7
Keith Taylor: 6
Jalon Walker: 5
Chris Lindstrom: 5
Matthew Bergeron; 5
Elijah Wilkinson: 5
Parker Romo: 5
Kyle Hinton: 5
Jovaughn Gwyn: 5
Brandon Dorlus: 3
Jake Matthews: 3
Deven Thompkins: 3
Jessie Bates: 2
David Onyemata: 2
Ruke Orhorhoro: 2
Mike Jerrell: 2
It was an interesting day on special teams, and interesting in the sense that it was better than it has been but still marred by a few errors. The Falcons missed six tackles on special teams, per Pro Football Focus, with JD Bertrand accounting for two of those on his own. But they also limited Buffalo to a modest 22.8 yards per kick return and seven yards per punt return, Parker Romo did hit a critical kick after having one blocked, and Bradley Pinion was booming those punts again. I’ll take it.
