The Falcoholic
Atlanta was forced to make changes owing to injury.
We’ve said it all about this loss elsewhere, so let’s zero in on the snap counts for the moment and spare the big picture bemoaning of that awful Week 7 game.
Chris Lindstrom: 73
Kaleb McGary: 73
Jake Matthews: 66
Drake London: 65
Ray-Ray McCloud: 64
Darnell Mooney: 64
Ryan Neuzil: 61
Kyle Pitts: 55
Bijan Robinson: 50
Kyle Hinton: 38
Matthew Bergeron: 35
KhaDarel Hodge: 18
Tyler Allgeier: 17
Matt Hennessy: 12
Charlie Woerner: 11
Ross Dwelley: 8
Casey Washington: 7
Storm Norton: 7
Michael Penix: 7
Jase McClellan: 6
The headliner here is that rookies actually played, albeit primarily for the last series. Michael Penix completed his lone passing attempt, McClellan picked up five carries, and Washington made his first grab of the year. Blowouts are likely the only place we’ll see these players on offense at the moment, but the fact that they all put something positive out there in a rare opportunity is great.
The other headliner is injury, which took Ryan Neuzil off the field for a bit and cost Matthew Bergeron a significant chunk of the afternoon. The team needs Bergeron, who has been enjoying a terrific second season, and we’ll have to hope his injury is a short-term one. Neuzil’s return was great news for Atlanta and Matthews’ late exit was presumably just to get him some rest and give Storm Norton a little time at left tackle.
Otherwise nothing was particularly surprising. The Falcons gave Bijan a ton of work because he was the hot hand, and they didn’t play Woerner that much because they ended up throwing a lot to try to dig out of the hole they found themselves in. No personnel shuffling is imminent; the Falcons just need their bedrock guys to play well.
Nate Landman: 60
Kaden Elliss: 60
Jessie Bates: 60
A.J. Terrell: 60
Justin Simmons: 60
Dee Alford: 54
Mike Hughes: 50
Grady Jarrett: 37
Matthew Judon: 32
James Smith-Williams: 32
Arnold Ebiketie: 30
David Onyemata: 28
Demone Harris: 26
Ta’Quon Graham: 25
Ruke Orhorhoro: 17
Zach Harrison: 11
Clark Phillips: 10
Eddie Goldman: 6
Kevin King: 2
With Lorenzo Carter out, the Falcons split reps pretty evenly between Judon, Ebiketie, Smith-Williams, and Harris. You wouldn’t have expected Harris to be great when he was thrust into action and he wasn’t, showing up around run plays but not registering a single stop and committing a single penalty. You should have expected Judon to be better, but matched up against what should have been an easy opponent, he scuffled mightily, with a single hurry and a penalty on the day.
The good news? Smith-Williams and Ebiketie were much better, even if one of the lasting images of the day will be Ebiketie trying and failing to take down Geno Smith before he authored another big play. JSW had Atlanta’s sole sack and a run stop, while Pro Football Focus credited Ebiketie with...
