The Falcoholic
We’ll flush this one by Wednesday because we have to to stay sane, and the Falcons will flush it earlier because they have another game they must prepare for.
In the interim, though, we still have to talk about it. Let’s do so via the snap counts for Week 3.
Jake Matthews: 66
Matthew Bergeron: 66
Ryan Neuzil: 66
Chris Lindstrom: 66
Elijah Wilkinson: 66
Darnell Mooney: 59
Drake London: 57
Kyle Pitts: 54
Bijan Robinson: 53
Michael Penix Jr.: 51
Ray-Ray McCloud: 46
David Sills: 25
Kirk Cousins: 15
Charlie Woerner: 14
Teagan Quitoriano: 7
Nate Carter: 7
Tyler Allgeier: 6
KhaDarel Hodge: 2
There are some odd things here. The first is virtually no Tyler Allgeier, who presumably would have been helpful in wearing down this defense but received just six snaps and one measly carry. The second was David Sills getting quite a bit of run, including subbing in for Mooney a handful of times; we’ll see if that’s something this team plans to continue, an opponent-based adjustment, or a sign that Casey Washington will get more run when he’s healthy.
Nothing really worked outside of Bijan, to be clear. The Falcons ended up sitting Penix late, presumably in service of keeping him healthy and avoiding further psychic damage after such a brutal game, and Kirk Cousins did a little pleasant dinking and dunking in his first game action since he was benched last year.
I don’t think London and Mooney are fully healthy, which isn’t an excuse, and I do think this line’s pass protection woes are just a fact of life at this point. But between the play calls consistently coming in very late, the usage quirks, and the inability for this offense to attack very real opponent weaknesses, the problems go beyond some personnel quirkiness and health.
Mike Hughes: 58
Divine Deablo: 58
Dee Alford: 57
Jessie Bates: 57
Kaden Elliss: 57
Xavier Watts: 57
Billy Bowman: 38
Zach Harrison: 34
David Onyemata: 34
Brandon Dorlus: 30
Jalon Walker: 30
LaCale London: 27
Leonard Floyd: 27
Ruke Orhorhoro: 26
Arnold Ebiketie: 23
James Pearce Jr.: 21
DeMarcco Hellams: 2
JD Bertrand: 1
Josh Woods: 1
The Falcons didn’t really change course here, and nor should they. There were some disappointing missed tackles and a lack of interior pressure getting home that they’ll need to iron out—Pro Football Focus did credit the team with 12 total pressures—but they otherwise did alright given the short fields they consistently had to defend. Only one of Carolina’s scoring drives started inside their own 30; the others were from the Carolina 39, the Atlanta 45, the Atlanta 44, and the Atlanta 30.
Alford has now put together back-to-back quality weeks in coverage filling in for A.J. Terrell on the outside, lending credence to the idea that A) he might be best outside and B) Jimmy Lake really hurt that man last year. If Terrell has to miss another week or two, I have...
