Snap counts! They’re extra sweet after a victory.
Offense
QB Michael Penix Jr.: 57
LG Matthew Bergeron: 57
C Ryan Neuzil: 57
RG Chris Lindstrom: 57
RT Jawaan Taylor: 57
WR Drake London: 51
LT Mike Jerrell: 46
WR Jahan Dotson: 36
RB Bijan Robinson: 34
TE Charlie Woerner: 33
TE Kyle Pitts: 29
RB Brian Robinson: 24
WR Olamide Zaccheaus: 21
TE Nick Muse: 17
WR Chris Blair: 14
WR Zachariah Branch: 13
TE Austin Hooper: 13
LT Jake Matthews: 11
The first note here is that despite what a Pro Football Focus grade might tell you, I thought
Mike Jerrell was fine at worst and pretty good for at least long stretches. For the first time since he landed in Atlanta, I saw the caliber of player the Falcons thought they were getting when they traded for him, and if he can sustain that level of play he’s both young enough and talented enough to grab ahold of the swing tackle role for the next couple of seasons.
The Falcons appeared to be throttling down Dotson’s snaps last week, but while they still found a way to get their entire receiving corps on the field, Dotson had a prominent role in this one. He turned three targets into two grabs for 54 yards and a touchdown after piling up just 4 catches for 41 yards the first three weeks, and his ability to win downfield is going to earn him more looks from Penix and this passing game going forward.
I don’t know why Pitts was largely parked very early on in this one, but thankfully he was more frequently targeted and productive too. The Falcons continue to heavily use all four tight ends, with Woerner coming back to life in a major way after a down 2025 season and Muse proving to be a legitimately useful blocker.
Defense
S Xavier Watts: 71
CB CJ Henderson: 64
S Jessie Bates: 61
ILB Divine Deablo: 60
CB Billy Bowman Jr.: 53
ILB Harold Perkins Jr.: 52
CB Mike Hughes: 48
OLB Cameron Thomas: 46
DL Gervon Dexter: 44
OLB Samsom Ebukam: 44
DL Brandon Dorlus: 42
OLB Yasir Abdullah: 37
CB Avieon Terrell: 36
DL Maason Smith: 32
DL Zach Harrison: 31
ILB Kendal Daniels: 29
S Sydney Brown: 22
DL LaCale London: 21
S DeMarcco Hellams: 13
LB Josh Woods: 7
OLB Za’Darius Smith: 1
Coaches love to say things like “next man up,” but the Falcons are living it. They lost Za’Darius Smith, who has been one of their most effective edge rushers early on, after just one snap. While they might have been even better at harrying Tyler Shough if Smith was in the game, the Falcons barely skipped a beat with Cameron Thomas and Yasir Abdullah causing a ruckus all game long, with Samson Ebukam coming on strong late. Atlanta is down A.J. Terrell but got another terrific game from fill-in starter CJ Henderson, a strong one from Mike Hughes, and a solid one from Avieon Terrell.
Perkins has been a revelation. He and Daniels have both played well, and the team is showing a clear preference toward Perkins on passing downs and Daniels on running downs, but I’ve thought both guys look across the board very capable. Playing a new season-high in snaps, Perkins was absolutely everywhere and showed fantastic coverage instincts. The Falcons got two keepers at linebackers on the draft’s third day.
The defensive front has just been utterly dominant. Dorlus, Dexter, Harrison, and Smith have been crushing it on a weekly basis, and they put the Saints offensive line through hell again in Week 4. With the Ravens and their heavily injured line coming up, and Lamar Jackson potentially missing Week 5, the good times seem likely to continue.
Special teams
Nick Muse: 25
Mike Ford: 24
Josh Woods: 24
DeMarcco Hellams: 22
Jammie Robinson: 22
Harold Perkins Jr.: 17
Chris Blair: 16
Nick Folk: 15
Sydney Brown: 14
Christian Harris: 13
Charlie Woerner: 10
Yasir Abdullah: 9
Liam McCullough: 9
Jake Bailey: 9
Zachariah Branch: 8
Billy Bowman Jr.: 8
Zach Harrison: 8
Mike Jerrell: 7
Kendal Daniels: 7
Matthew Bergeron: 7
Kyle Hinton: 7
Ryan Neuzil: 7
Corey Levin: 7
Maason Smith: 6
Gervon Dexter: 6
LaCale London: 6
CJ Henderson: 6
Olamide Zaccheaus: 6
Jawaan Taylor: 6
Divine Deablo: 4
Avieon Terrell: 2
Austin Hooper: 2
Xavier Watts: 1
Jake Matthews: 1
I wonder if we’ll see Jammie Robinson on the 53 man roster at some point this year. He plays and plays well in every phase of special teams every time he’s called upon, and the Falcons need that.
One crazy stat: In two-plus years with the Falcons split between two separate stints, Mike Ford has now missed more special teams tackles than he’s actually made. Even when he’s missing those tackles he’s sometimes impacting the returner simply by flying down the field and forcing them to change direction, but that’s not…a great stat.
