The snap counts this week aren’t going to help you feel any better about the game. Sorry about that.
Offense
QB Michael Penix Jr.: 53
LT Jake Matthews: 53
LG Matthew Bergeron: 53
C Ryan Neuzil: 53
RG Chris Lindstrom: 53
RT Kaleb McGary: 53
WR Drake London: 51
RB Bijan Robinson: 41
WR Jahan Dotson: 38
TE Kyle Pitts: 29
TE Charlie Woerner: 29
WR Olamide Zaccheaus: 25
TE Nick Muse: 10
RB Khalil Herbert: 10
WR Chris Blair: 9
OL Corey Levin: 7
TE Austin Hooper: 7
WR Zachariah Branch: 5
OL Kyle Hinton: 2
If you absolutely have to
run and you think trickery or your running back’s guile alone won’t get the job done, bringing on extra offensive linemen is a smart play. The Falcons did roll out Levin on seven snaps and Hinton on a further two to try to bully Tampa Bay’s front, and that largely worked. Levin did a nice job, and had the Falcons committed to running more often, having him out there more often likely would’ve been a smart decision.
The Falcons also could’ve leaned more heavily on their usage of Nick Muse alongside Charlie Woerner, given that Muse has proven again and again this season to be a useful blocker. The fact that the Falcons ran the ball 23 times with their two backs and only had Muse and Levin on the field for a combined 17 snaps is, in my opinion, a missed opportunity, given that the only way to beat a run defense as good as Tampa Bay’s is to block as effectively as possible and give Bijan a lane he has a prayer of working with. Bijan still had a couple of special runs in this one—disappearing into the pile and emerging for a first down, for example—but it’s a long season and he needs a bit of breathing room that he wasn’t getting Sunday.
That said, the Falcons also threw the ball 24 times (?) in this one and put a third receiver on the field often, so that explains things to some extent. Why they did that on a day where the Bucs threw three passes and the rain made passing treacherous and clearly extremely difficult for Penix is, I think, something I’d like to hear more from Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees about this week.
Defense
ILB Kendal Daniels: 60
S Xavier Watts: 60
CB C.J. Henderson: 60
CB A.J. Terrell: 60
S Jessie Bates: 60
OLB Cameron Thomas: 47
ILB Harold Perkins Jr.: 42
DL LaCale London: 36
DL Zach Harrison: 31
DL Gervon Dexter Sr.: 30
DL Brandon Dorlus: 30
OLB Charles Snowden: 26
ILB Josh Woods: 19
DL Jared Ivey: 17
OLB Samson Ebukam: 15
S/CB Sydney Brown: 14
CB Mike Hughes: 8
OLB Za’Darius Smith: 8
The Falcons clearly prioritized stopping the run up front, giving London a season-high number of snaps, prioritizing work for Harrison, and getting Woods on the field as time went on given that he’s been a fairly consistent presence against the run. Sadly, aside from Cameron Thomas I don’t think you can say anyone was truly great against the run on Sunday, with lapses and missed tackles bubbling up almost across the board. The Falcons missed 16 tackles after having one of the better missed tackle rates in football coming into the week.
The rookie linebackers both had their worst day at the office at the same time, which was unfortunate, combining for five missed tackles and a lot of chasing the play. Daniels has been so good—and Perkins so good in coverage—that I’m just chalking this up as an aberration on a very aberrant day. Perkins did get a sack, as well, which was really nice to see.
I think this one comes down to execution and how guys were lining up more than the actual personnel usage, but this Falcons run defense has been exposed in recent weeks. While getting James Pearce Jr. back is going to help the pass rush, it’s not likely to give the run D the lift it badly needs, and the Falcons are simply going to have to be much better with what they have. It’s fortunate they’re getting a little break coming up between the bye and their opponents being kind of crummy at running the ball.
Special teams
DeMarcco Hellams: 20
Mike Ford Jr.: 20
Josh Woods: 20
Nick Muse: 17
Harold Perkins Jr.: 13
Chris Blair: 12
Brian Asamoah II: 12
Khalil Herbert: 12
Zach Harrison: 10
Charlie Woerner: 10
Kendal Daniels: 7
Avieon Terrell: 6
Christian Harris: 6
Xavier Watts: 5
Sydney Brown: 5
Liam McCullough: 5
Mike Hughes: 5
Jake Bailey: 5
Austin Hooper: 5
Maason Smith: 4
Gervon Dexter Sr.: 4
LaCale London: 4
Jahan Dotson: 4
Jessie Bates: 4
Olamide Zaccheaus: 4
Zachariah Branch: 3
Nick Folk: 2
Ethan Onianwa: 1
Matthew Bergeron: 1
Kyle Hinton: 1
Charles Snowden: 1
Ryan Neuzil: 1
Jake Matthews: 1
Corey Levin: 1
Aside from the missed field goal, this was one of the cleanest days for special teams yet this season. There were no missed tackles, solid enough returns, and good punts. Even the errors—you could argue the Falcons messed up by not fielding a couple of deep punts—were excused by the fact that fielding them in recent weeks had been catastrophic. Let’s build on that, fellas.
