The Falcoholic
Any surprises this week?
Snap counts are more fun after an Atlanta Falcons win, because we’re looking at who got an opportunity and how they contributed to the victory rather than to the loss. Let’s get into ‘em.
Kirk Cousins: 62
Jake Matthews: 62
Matthew Bergeron: 62
Ryan Neuzil: 62
Kaleb McGary: 62
Drake London: 62
Darnell Mooney: 58
Ray-Ray McCloud: 55
Bijan Robinson: 42
Chris Lindstrom: 40
Charlie Woerner: 35
Kyle Pitts: 30
Tyler Allgeier: 22
Kyle Hinton: 22
Ross Dwelley: 5
KhaDarel Hodge: 1
The most interesting snap counts item for the offense is that Woerner actually out-snapped Pitts, the first time that has happened this season. That may have been fueled by what sure looked like an unofficial, short-term benching for a couple of drives after Pitts nearly was stripped of the ball while crossing the goal line on his second touchdown, a play that would have been absolutely disastrous and was inarguably careless. You won’t see this happen very often, even though Woerner is an extremely useful player, and Pitts did get to play a role down the stretch.
Lindstrom being healthy enough to play next week, per Raheem Morris, is a big piece of news. Still, we should give real credit to Hinton, who stood in for Lindstrom and did not allow a single pressure, an admirable pinch hitting opportunity for a useful player who can handle snaps at either guard spot. Kudos to him.
Otherwise, you know the deal. The Falcons heavily lean on their best players, and generally that’s working out quite well.
Richie Grant: 73
Jessie Bates: 73
A.J. Terrell: 73
Kaden Elliss: 70
Dee Alford: 69
Mike Hughes: 57
Nate Landman: 55
Grady Jarrett: 49
Matthew Judon: 45
Arnold Ebiketie: 40
James Smith-Williams: 33
Demone Harris: 33
David Onyemata: 29
Ta’Quon Graham: 25
Zach Harrison: 23
JD Bertrand: 16
Clark Phillips: 16
Ruke Orhorhoro: 12
Eddie Goldman: 8
Kevin King: 4
The troubling news from this one was that Orhorhoro exited the game with an ankle injury, never returned, and we never got an update on his status. I really hope the Falcons aren’t without him for very long, and he was playing well on his 12 snaps, with a hurry and tackle along the way.
The team continues to get very little out of their pass rush, and they’re not shaking up their snap counts up front wildly or anything, though we got a little more Harrison and a lot of Harris. The fact that Harris was one of six Falcons credit with a single pressure and that he’s playing the run well suggests we’ll likely see him elevated to the roster permanently sometime soon; the Falcons could at least use the solid play he’s providing. Otherwise, the Falcons probably need to go outside the organization via trade to add an impact player here, or the results will continue to be quiet.
I was interested to see Bertrand taking snaps from Landman. Whether that...
