The Falcoholic
It certainly wasn’t a pretty effort, but the snap counts wait for no man.
Michael Penix Jr.: 65
Jake Matthews: 65
Matthew Bergeron: 65
Ryan Neuzil: 65
Chris Lindstrom: 65
Elijah Wilkinson: 65
Drake London: 64
Bijan Robinson: 57
Darnell Mooney: 54
Kyle Pitts: 53
Charlie Woerner: 38
David Sills V: 29
Tyler Allgeier: 15
KhaDarel Hodge: 4
Jake Matthews playing every snap in a bulky ankle brace may have been unwise, but I admire it. He was credited with a sack, two hurries, and three pressures, but fared better in limited fashion than Elijah Wilkinson, who got saddled with four pressures and two sacks. Chris Lindstrom, who is quietly not off to the greatest start of his career, was tagged with six pressures by Pro Football Focus; the only starting lineman without one was Ryan Neuzil.
The Falcons weren’t keeping Penix clean, weren’t getting much going on the ground, and weren’t actually throwing the ball to David Sills, so I think it’s probably time to start experimenting with other receiving options if Ray-Ray McCloud is going to continue to miss time. I do think Sills is a solid blocker, but I also think the Falcons are not getting enough guys open to consistently trot one out there who seems essentially untargetable. Hell, Casey Washington barely gets looks.
Drake London’s usage in the slot was pretty comparable to a week ago—he got 11 snaps there, same as against Buffalo—but after getting eight targets and six receptions for over 100 yards over the middle a week ago, he got a paltry pair of targets over the middle for 13 yards. Remember, the middle of that San Francisco defense was the most porous part!
Xavier Watts: 67
Kaden Ellis: 67
A.J. Terrell: 67
Jessie Bates: 67
Mike Hughes: 67
JD Bertrand: 58
Ruke Orhorhoro: 43
David Onyemata: 42
Zach Harrison: 40
James Pearce Jr.: 40
Leonard Floyd: 34
Ta’Quon Graham: 30
Arnold Ebiketie: 25
Dee Alford: 23
Brandon Dorlus: 22
Sam Roberts: 20
DeMarcco Hellams: 9
Divine Deablo: 9
DeAngelo Malone: 6
The big story of the night was obviously JD Bertrand stepping in for Divine Deablo. That was always going to be a difficult spot to step into, given how good Deablo has been, but while Bertrand got decent Pro Football Focus grades (you should not believe those, by the way) and was only credited with one missed tackles, he looked overmatched much of the night working against Christian McCaffrey. Too often, we saw him dragged along on a play, a step behind and trying to catch up, or simply not in the vicinity of where the play was being made; I thought he improved against the run as the night went on but the damage had already been done. The Falcons should make other plans if Deablo is going to miss time, ones that at least don’t involve Bertrand having to step in as a full-time starter.
The Falcons tried to go with a...
