Atlanta Snap Counts For Falcons vs. Buccaneers

The Falcons bludgeoned the Buccaneers 56-14—and no, I'm not getting tired of writing that—and a good time was had by all. Now we begin the process of sorting out how exactly the Falcons accomplished that feat, allowing that the Bucs had a major role in their own demise.

To that end, I've listed complete snap counts for last night's game with brief analysis following. Feel free to debate and discuss these counts in the comments.

All snaps counts are credited to the NFL itself, in case you wondered.

Offense

LG Justin Blalock: 69
RG Jon Asamoah: 66
RT Lamar Holmes: 57
TE Levine Toilolo: 57
LT Jake Matthews: 50
QB Matt Ryan: 50
C Joe Hawley: 50
WR Julio Jones: 48
WR Eric Weems: 33
FB Patrick DiMarco: 33
WR Harry Douglas: 31
T Gabe Carimi: 29
WR Devin Hester: 25
RB Steven Jackson: 21
RB Devonta Freeman: 21
TE Bear Pascoe: 20
RB Jacquizz Rodgers: 19
C/G Peter Konz: 18
QB T.J. Yates: 17
WR Courtney Roby: 17
RB Antone Smith: 8

Freeman got as many snaps as Jackson, largely due to garbage time. Weems was in largely because Harry Douglas was out, but I think his play last night will encourage the Falcons to work him into the offensive gameplan on occasion. The Falcons clearly view right tackle as a place where they can rotate Gabe Carimi in at times, and while I haven't confirmed this by re-watching the game just yet, I suspect they'll look to do so more on run downs than anything else, or if Lamar Holmes just needs a breather.

Blalock is, as always, an iron man.

Defense

Robert Alford: 60
Desmond Trufant: 57
Paul Worrilow: 57
William Moore: 57
Robert McClain: 49
Kroy Biermann: 39
Dwight Lowery: 39
Jonathan Babineaux: 37
Kemal Ishmael: 34
Corey Peters: 34
Malliciah Goodman: 30
Prince Shembo: 28
Osi Umenyiora: 28
Jonathan Massaquoi: 24
Ra'Shede Hageman: 22
Joplo Bartu: 19
Stansly Maponga: 18
Paul Soliai: 11
Tyson Jackson: 7
Nate Stupar: 3
Dezmen Southward: 3
Josh Wilson: 3

Some very interesting numbers to unpack here. Facing off against a depleted Buccaneers team, Mike Nolan clearly wanted to push for a better pass rush and a more agile defensive front, which is why you see such low snap counts for both Paul Soliai and Tyson Jackson. Malliciah Goodman, Corey Peters, Massaquoi, and Maponga were the ones who benefited, and all four players had strong games.

Prince Shembo appears to have already surpassed Joplo Bartu for a starting ILB job. We'll see if that holds up in Week 4, but it was more or less inevitable after the way both have played.

I was also impressed to Kemal Ishmael getting nearly as many snaps at Dwight Lowery and playing well within that opportunity. The Falcons may be able to put three safeties on the field more often if Ishmael can continue at this pace.

Special Teams

Kemal Ishmael: 23
Robert McClain: 21
Eric Weems: 21
Matt Bosher: 20
Patrick DiMarco: 20
Nate Stupar: 19
Courtney Roby: 18
Antone Smith: 17
Prince Shembo: 16
Paul Soliai: 11
Tyson Jackson: 11
Robert Alford: 11
Josh Wilson: 11
Josh Harris: 11
Peter Konz: 10
Devin Hester: 9
Matt Bryant: 9
Lamar Holmes: 9
Justin Blalock: 9
Jon Asamoah: 9
Jake Matthews: 9
Bear Pascoe: 9
Desmond Trufant: 8
Joplo Bartu: 6 
Dezmen Southward: 5
Jacquizz Rodgers: 5

Ishmael was a force on special teams, as well. Otherwise everything went as anticipated, and you can see that players like Roby, Weems and Stupar are on the roster for. Please note that under five snaps, I just didn't bother with listing the snap counts, because a guy's gotta eat lunch at some point.

Your thoughts on these snap counts?