The Falcoholic
Snap counts incoming.
Another week, another loss, another round of snap counts.
The offense contained few surprises, the defense had a little bit of mixing and matching, and special teams was reliable outside of one major miscue. Here’s the counts.
Kirk Cousins: 74
Jake Matthews: 74
Matthew Bergeron: 74
Drew Dalman: 74
Chris Lindstrom: 74
Kaleb McGary: 74
Drake London: 74
Darnell Mooney: 70
Bijan Robinson: 63
Kyle Pitts: 58
Ray-Ray McCloud: 47
Charile Woerner: 35
Tyler Allgeier: 13
Ross Dwelley: 9
KhaDarel Hodge: 1
The only real surprise here is that Kyle Pitts pulled so many more snaps than Woerner, likely as a result of the team trying to utilize Pitts as a weapon (which went poorly) and being more comfortable with his blocking (which was quietly very good Sunday). The Falcons want to get Pitts going and Pitts wants to get going, but between Cousins choosing not to look his way and Pitts not making the most of his opportunities, it appears that won’t happen.
Allgeier really didn’t get more snaps; he just got more touches with those snaps. That was a huge positive for this offense, and needs to continue, given that he’s not really biting into Bijan’s workload.
At some point, I would like to see Hodge steal a handful from McCloud. Hodge is the more reliable blocking option and is a less high variance player than McCloud, who is having a career year and has been a boon to this offense but is also responsible for some truly frustrating missed blocks and has four fumbles. Those screens for McCloud could occasionally go to Hodge, who can and has run over and through defenders with his limited opportunities. There’s no need to park McCloud, who has done such excellent work over the middle of the field all season, but I do think Hodge can offer more than he’s been given the opportunity to.
A.J. Terrell: 60
Kaden Elliss: 60
Justin Simmons: 59
Jessie Bates: 59
Grady Jarrett: 47
Mike Hughes: 42
Dee Alford: 40
Lorenzo Carter: 38
David Onyemata: 35
Matthew Judon: 33
Troy Andersen: 29
Kentavius Street: 24
Demone Harris: 24
Nate Landman: 20
Arnold Ebiketie: 20
Zach Harrison: 17
Mike Hughes: 17
Kevin King: 4
DeAngelo Malone: 3
The defense allowed four or five completely busted plays on Sunday, which made everything far worse than it needed to be. There were also consequential snap counts here.
We’ll start with Hughes, who was parked for Clark Phillips after some early coverage misadventures. Given how good Hughes had been this year pre-injury, it’s possible he’s just not 100% yet, but the Falcons also appear to want to see more Phillips. Hughes was at least partially responsible for that 49 yard touchdown, while Phillips was tagged for four grabs and 67 yards on five targets, most of that coming on a single 42 yard downfield shot.
Alford had a terrible day at the office, but the Falcons seem prepared to let...
