Falcons vs Cardinals 2016: Snap counts and good feelings

Offense

Chris Chester G: 70 (100%)

Andy Levitre G: 70

Ryan Schraeder T: 70

Jake Matthews T: 70

Alex Mack C: 70

Matt Ryan QB: 70

Mohamed Sanu WR: 62

Julio Jones WR: 56

Levine Toilolo TE: 40

Devonta Freeman RB: 39

Taylor Gabriel WR: 35

Austin Hooper TE: 33

Tevin Coleman RB: 32

Patrick DiMarco FB: 20

Justin Hardy WR: 14

Aldrick Robinson WR: 13

Joshua Perkins TE: 3

Eric Weems WR: 2

Tom Compton T: 1

Few surprises here, as you'd anticipate. Josh Perkins should be heading for a slightly larger role in the future, but is clearly behind Levine Toilolo and Austin Hooper in the pecking order. Toilolo and (particularly) Mohamed Sanu got a ton of run in this one because of their ability to block effectively, and Sanu threw a couple of huge downfield blocks along the way.

With the Falcons looking to spread the field a bit, they got Justin Hardy and Aldrick Robinson on more often, with Patrick DiMarco playing just over half of Devonta Freeman's snaps. Given the offensive explosion, we'd say that worked out pretty well.

Defense

Keanu Neal S: 66 (100%)

Ricardo Allen S: 66

Robert Alford CB: 65

Jalen Collins CB: 65

De'Vondre Campbell LB: 64

Brian Poole CB: 56

Deion Jones LB: 55

Vic Beasley LB: 51

Grady Jarrett DT: 41

Dwight Freeney DE: 38

Brooks Reed DE: 33

Courtney Upshaw DT: 30

Adrian Clayborn DE: 28

Jonathan Babineaux DT: 20

Philip Wheeler LB: 16

Tyson Jackson DE: 12

LaRoy Reynolds LB: 11

Ben Garland C: 4

Kemal Ishmael S: 2

C.J. Goodwin CB: 1

Robensen Therezie SS: 1

I had anticipated that C.J. Goodwin would get more run in this one than he did with Desmond Trufant out. Instead, the Falcons stuck with their starters in the secondary, with Ishmael, Goodwin, and Therezie combining for just four snaps. The defense had one of its stronger efforts of the season, too.

Noteworthy: Courtney Upshaw and Jonathan Babineaux combined for quite a few snaps in this one, but Ben Garland is probably going to steal some of those going forward, given that the Falcons signed an experienced center to back up Alex Mack. Reed and Upshaw should continue to split time at defensive end to some extent with Adrian Clayborn on the shelf, as well.

Special Teams

Paul Worrilow: 21

C.J. Goodwin: 20

Eric Weems: 18

LaRoy Reynolds: 15

Justin Hardy: 15

Brooks Reed: 14

Kemal Ishmael: 13

Josh Perkins: 12

Robert Alford: 11

(Cutting off at this point, because you don't care)

Worrilow may be out of a starting gig, but he, Goodwin, Weems, Reynolds and Hardy in particular have become the core of this team's special teams unit. Worrilow's value there may earn him a new contract from the Falcons next year, though he'll likely want to pursue a starting opportunity that seems unlikely to materialize in Atlanta. Kudos to Brooks Reed for bringing his hair along to special teams.