Offense
LT Jake Matthews: 55
LG Matthew Bergeron: 55
C Ryan Neuzil: 55
RG Chris Lindstrom: 55
RT Jawaan Taylor: 55
QB Michael Penix Jr.: 55
WR Drake London: 55
WR Jahan Dotson: 47
RB Bijan Robinson: 43
TE Kyle Pitts: 43
WR Olamide Zaccheaus: 30
WR Zachariah Branch: 19
TE Charlie Woerner: 16
RB Brian Robinson Jr.: 10
TE Austin Hooper: 7
TE Nick Muse: 3
WR Chris Blair: 2
Here’s a sobering stat for a player I like quite a bit: Zaccheaus has just 4 receptions on 11 targets for 17 yards, versus 9 receptions on 10 targets for 55
yards for Branch. OZ can be a sparkplug, but hasn’t been yet this season, and yet is handily outsnapping a player (144 snaps to 89) who is a more dangerous receiving threat in Branch. At some point, Zaccheaus either needs to be more involved as a pass catcher or needs to cede more playing time to Branch, because it’s not as though he’s a far-and-away better blocking option either. If you want that, Chris Blair’s right there.
Otherwise, this game showed what happens when you’re playing from behind. Very little playing time for Brian Robinson Jr., a very heavy dose of Pitts, Dotson, and London, and very little in the way of playing time for Woerner. The Falcons aren’t going to win many games when they’re this unbalanced, and they certainly didn’t win this one.
Defense
S Xavier Watts: 77
S Jessie Bates: 77
CB Mike Hughes: 77
CB Avieon Terrell: 76
EDGE Cameron Thomas: 46
ILB Josh Woods: 45
ILB Kendal Daniels: 44
DL Brandon Dorlus: 44
DL Gervon Dexter Sr.: 43
DL Maason Smith: 42
ILB Harold Perkins Jr.: 41
EDGE Samson Ebukam: 41
DL LaCale London: 37
NB Sydney Brown: 35
DL Zach Harrison: 25
ILB Divine Deablo: 25
EDGE Bralen Trice: 21
DL Jared Ivey: 19
EDGE Za’Darius Smith: 16
NB Billy Bowman Jr.: 14
CB Mike Ford: 1
Hughes is getting killed out there. Only Jarrian Jones of the Jaguars has allowed more yardage than he has, and Hughes has the worst completion percentage against of any starting cornerback with more than 200 snaps and some of the worst touchdowns allowed and yards per reception numbers in the league. When asked about Hughes on Monday, Kevin Stefanski said the Falcons ask a lot of their corners and that “Mike’s a vet we’re counting on,” but declined to give him a vote of confidence beyond that. His starting spot may very well be in jeopardy when A.J. Terrell and C.J. Henderson are back, but Jeff Ulbrich appears to be fond of Hughes and may give him a longer leash.
This was a day where the team’s preferred run defenders played a heavy role, with Kendal Daniels getting a ton of snaps before his scary injury, Sydney Brown getting extended run, and big snaps for London. It worked in the sense that the Falcons allowed under 100 rushing yards to the most productive rushing attack in the NFL, but Caleb Williams killed them through the air, so…
Special teams
DeMarcco Hellams: 27
Mike Ford: 27
Josh Woods: 27
Jammie Robinson: 25
Harold Perkins Jr.: 21
Nick Muse: 20
Sydney Brown: 15
Chris Blair: 12
Olamide Zaccheaus: 10
Kendal Daniels: 9
Maason Smith: 8
Gervon Dexter: 8
LaCale London: 8
Robert Longerbeam: 7
Liam McCullough: 7
Zachariah Branch: 6
Billy Bowman Jr.: 6
Xavier Watts: 6
Mike Hughes: 6
Austin Hooper: 5
Nick Folk: 5
Divine Deablo: 2
Mike Jerrell: 1
Matthew Bergeron: 1
Kyle Hinton: 1
Cameron Thomas: 1
Ryan Neuzil: 1
Corey Levin: 1
Jake Matthews: 1
I’ve been hard on Mike Ford, so credit where it’s due: Aside from a ticky-tack penalty for going out of bounds with some help from Chicago, he did nice work on special teams Sunday. The coverage units had just one missed tackle against seven tackles, their best performance of the season thus far, and bottled up Chicago’s kick return game while doing a decent job against a very dynamic punt returner in Kalif Raymond. Perhaps they’re rounding into form.
What was less great? The return game, where Zachariah Branch fumbled twice and the team’s returners continued to make baffling decisions with the ball. Is it worth fielding a kick inside the 10 when it might bounce into the end zone if you’re only going to pick up 15-20 yards, as Brian Robinson and Olamide Zaccheaus did? Should you bother fielding punts at all if you’re feeling uncertain and muff them (Branch) or simply lose a yard (Zaccheaus)? The Falcons’ offense has its own suite of problems, but having the league’s second-worst average starting field position is making their life much harder.
