Stewing over that one and not sure how to distract yourself? Snap counts may help, so we’ve got ‘em hot and fresh.
Offense
Michael Penix: 76
Jake Matthews: 76
Matthew Bergeron: 76
Ryan Neuzil: 76
Chris Lindstrom: 76
Elijah Wilkinson: 76
Casey Washington: 72
Drake London: 67
Bijan Robinson: 63
Kyle Pitts: 59
Ray-Ray McCloud: 55
Charlie Woerner: 32
Tyler Allgeier: 19
KhaDarel Hodge: 8
Teagan Quitoriano: 2
David Sills: 2
Feleipe Franks: 1
Few surprises here. KhaDarel Hodge is still the man who steps in when Drake London is hurt,
Bijan still outsnaps Allgeier by a huge degree even if their carries are pretty even, and the Falcons still use Pitts more often than Woerner. Pitts, I thought, threw some nice blocks yesterday that more than justified that work alongside his production as a receiver.
I thought we might see a little more run for the backup tight ends, especially in the run game with so little working, but that was not an avenue Zac Robinson seemed particularly keen to explore. That and Allgeier’s workload—10 carries on 19 snaps, making it fairly obvious it was going to be a run when he was in the game—made Atlanta’s struggles to run the ball even more pronounced. I’ll be curious to see how that personnel use changes, if it does, against the Vikings. One quality note? Elijah Wilkinson was one of the team’s better run-blocking offensive linemen yesterday.
Otherwise, the only intrigue here is what will happen to Casey Washington when Darnell Mooney returns, potentially as soon as Week 2. I thought he played quite well, but his opportunities are likely to be limited if everyone is healthy.
Defense
Jessie Bates: 58
Kaden Elliss: 58
AJ Terrell: 58
Xavier Watts: 58
Mike Hughes: 58
Divine Deablo: 57
Billy Bowman Jr.: 47
Zach Harrison: 36
Leonard Floyd: 34
David Onyemata: 31
Brandon Dorlus: 29
Jalon Walker: 26
Ruke Orhorhoro: 25
Arnold Ebiketie: 25
James Pearce Jr.: 23
LaCale London: 14
Jordan Fuller: 1
No real surprises here, either, though Harrison leading the way for defensive linemen qualifies. He was one of three Falcons credited with three or more pressures on Sunday, joining James Pearce Jr. (4) and Divine Deablo (3) in making Baker Mayfield uncomfortable. It’s the sort of outsized role we’ve been clamoring for given that Harrison has consistently been a useful player.
If there’s any three safety looks to come, they’re probably not going to involve Jordan Fuller, who played just a single snap. DeMarcco Hellams might be able to force his way onto the field when he’s healthy, though. The secondary was rife with impressive performances from Terrell, Bowman, Bates, and Watts, which was especially cool given that two those guys are rookies.
The biggest highlight of all? Deablo played as a full-time starter and looked terrific, exactly like the kind of player the Falcons hoped they were signing, which is a massive early season relief with the team’s depth seeming shaky after the summer.
There were a couple of very visible lapses—how did you get that open, Cade Otton?—but overall the defense played well and the playing time seems quite set. We’ll see how it continues into Week 2.
Special teams
Feleipe Franks: 22
DeAngelo Malone: 22
JD Bertrand: 22
Mike Ford: 22
KhaDarel Hodge: 17
Jordan Fuller: 16
Dee Alford: 16
Charlie Woerner: 13
Teagan Quitoriano: 13
Carlos Washington: 10
Natrone Brooks: 10
Younghoe Koo: 10
Zach Harrison: 9
Jalon Walker: 9
Tyler Allgeier: 8
Bradley Pinion: 8
Liam McCullough: 8
Jamal Agnew: 6
Jessie Bates: 5
Kaden Elliss: 5
Brandon Dorlus: 5
Ruke Orhorhoro: 5
Elijah Wilkinson: 5
Matthew Bergeron: 5
Jake Matthews: 5
Chris Lindstrom: 5
Kyle Hinton: 5
Jovaughn Gwyn: 5
David Onyemata: 4
LaCale London: 1
Ray-Ray McCloud: 1
The top guys on this list are essentially on this team just for special teams, to no one’s surprise, but it was a tough day for special teams in general. Feleipe Franks had a tackle and a missed tackle, KhaDarel Hodge an unfortunate penalty, Mike Ford missed two tackle attempts, and Younghoe Koo and Bradley Pinion had two special teams tackles. That’s not a recipe for a great day, but playing time won’t change for anyone on this list, even if I don’t know that I love Ford’s continued presence on this team.
Obviously, Koo was the headliner in terms of bad days despite his tackle. He doinked a field goal attempt that somehow went in, missed the game-tying one, and earned a penalty for missing the landing zone that set the Buccaneers up with tremendous field position. Koo has not been an asset on non-onside kicks in a while now, so I was sort of baffled Pinion wasn’t handling those duties. Perhaps he will after this week, but it goes without saying that he needs a good Week 2 badly.
Until he got hurt, Agnew was delivering as a returner as expected, averaging a smooth 28.5 yards per kick return on two returns and a very robust 14.5 yards on two punt returns. It was Natrone Brooks filling in for him when he went out, and Brooks did a solid job with 22.7 yards per kick return on two attempts; it seems the Falcons are going to turn to Brooks rather than Ray-Ray McCloud for these duties at the moment.
