What can we glean from the counts?
Sometimes, things just don’t go your way, and sometimes things spectacularly don’t go your way. That was the case for an Atlanta Falcons offense that didn’t change much up but was plagued by miscues, a defense that prioritized stopping the run and largely succeeded while giving up explosive plays, and a special teams unit that saw a solid day undercut by an uncharacteristic three misses from Younghoe Koo.
Let’s talk Falcons snap counts from the game against the Saints.
Offense
Kirk Cousins: 78
Jake Matthews: 78
Matthew Bergeron: 78
Ryan Neuzil: 78
Kaleb McGary: 78
Drake London: 78
Chris Lindstrom: 77
Darnell Mooney: 77
Ray-Ray McCloud: 77
Bijan Robinson: 61
Kyle Pitts: 40
Charlie Woerner: 38
Tyler Allgeier: 18
KhaDarel Hodge: 1
Kyle Hinton: 1
The snap counts on offense each week contain very little intrigue at this point. The Falcons lean on their guys, Bijan is generally out-snapping Allgeier by a considerable margin, and Pitts and Woerner are splitting time pretty evenly most weeks. It’s generally a well-oiled machine, but this week the line scuffling a bit and Cousins scuffling too meant the points didn’t materialize the way they have the past couple of weeks.
Still, we know the contours of this offense, and if healthy it’ll be a real asset most weeks.
Defense
Kaden Elliss: 53
Justin Simmons: 53
Jessie Bates: 53
A.J. Terrell: 53
Nate Landman: 44
Clark Phillips: 40
Grady Jarrett: 38
Arnold Ebiketie: 35
Matthew Judon: 32
James Smith-Williams: 29
David Onyemata: 25
Eddie Goldman: 24
Kentavius Street: 17
Zach Harrison: 15
Dee Alford: 15
Troy Andersen: 13
Mike Hughes: 13
Ta’Quon Graham: 11
Khalid Khareem: 9
DeAngelo Malone: 8
Richie Grant: 1
Kevin King: 1
The Falcons lost Mike Hughes fairly early in this one, which led to extended playing time for Clark Phillips. Unsurprisingly given that he’s A) a good young player and B) has been getting plenty of time subbing in for Hughes this year, Phillips held his own, with a couple of frustrating coverage lapses mixed in with some great work in run support. If Hughes has to miss extended time, I’m quite confident in Phillips filling in.
It’s worth noting, too, that the Falcons tinkered with their lineup on defense in a way that was designed to smother the Saints ground game. They gave more playing time to Goldman (who was good!) and largely played without a nickel cornerback, and while the early explosives were a big problem, they held an opposing ground game under 100 yards for the first time all season. That’s a potential blueprint for smothering run-first teams like Carolina and the Giants still left on their schedule.
It’s an odd thing to say, but it felt like the absence of Demone Harris showed up in this one for the pass rush. While I think the results were better than the zero sacks that the team managed—they made Carr throw it away multiple times, including a crucial intentional grounding—the pressure was once again inconsistent. The results the past couple of weeks with Harris delivering some juice and moving around the formation suggests he should be added to the roster on a full-time basis.
This was supposed to be Andersen’s long-awaited return, but he played sparingly, and we likely won’t see him at full strength until after the bye. At least Landman looked more like himself.
Special teams
DeAngelo Malone: 21
Richie Grant: 21
Avery Williams: 21
Charlie Woerner: 18
Antonio Hamilton: 18
Tyler Allgeier: 17
KhaDarel Hodge: 16
Kevin King: 13
Bradley Pinion: 13
Clark Phillips: 10
Troy Andersen: 10
Zach Harrison: 9
Liam McCullough: 9
Nate Landman: 7
Kaden Elliss: 6
Dee Alford: 6
Matthew Bergeron: 6
Ryan Neuzil: 6
Kaleb McGary: 6
Jake Matthews: 6
Kyle Hinton: 6
Storm Norton: 6
Ross Dwelley: 6
Casey Washington: 6
Younghoe Koo: 6
Matt Hennessy: 6
David Onyemata: 5
Ray-Ray McCloud: 5
Eddie Goldman: 4
Khalid Khareem: 4
Kentavius Street: 3
Ta’Quon Graham: 1
What makes Koo’s rough day even more frustrating is that this was a really good day for special teams otherwise. Pinion had one of his highest net yards per punt averages, both McCloud and Williams made good decisions and averaged over 28 yards per return, and the coverage teams only allowed one plus return, an 18 yarder on a punt. Unfortunately, when your kicker struggles, it tends to overshadow everything else.
No big surprises in these counts, though it’s notable that Andersen got almost as many special teams snaps as defensive ones. That’ll probably be the case next week against the Broncos, too.