Falcons snap counts from Week 3’s wild win over the Lions

The Atlanta Falcons won, and in the course of doing so, they rolled out a lot of familiar faces. This is the weekly tale of the snap counts, which contains few surprises but does serve as a useful reminder of just how stacked this Falcons team is.

The closest thing we got to a surprise this week was Takk McKinley’s snap count, which was a huge jump up over the first two weeks of the season. Consider the Falcons were without Vic Beasley and in need of some pass rushing punch, though, it’s not like they were going to start a veteran instead just because they were a veteran. Can you imagine?

Offense

Andy Levitre G 68

Wes Schweitzer 68

Ty Sambrailo 68

Jake Matthews 68

Alex Mack 68

Matt Ryan 68

Julio Jones 58

Mohamed Sanu 57

Austin Hooper 49

Devonta Freeman 41

Taylor Gabriel 36

Levine Toilolo 35

Tevin Coleman 28

Derrick Coleman 19

Justin Hardy 15

Eric Saubert 1

Andre Roberts 1

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The Falcons kept things pretty clean and predictable on this side of the ball. Devonta Freeman outsnapped and outtouched Tevin Coleman to the point where it’s obvious who the feature back is, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect Steve Sarkisian to close that gap any time soon. Guys like Justin Hardy, Eric Saubert and Andre Roberts are barely involved in the offense at all, with most of the snaps and looks going to Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Austin Hooper, and Taylor Gabriel. The offense hasn’t really suffered for it, even if I’d like to see a little more Hardy, at least.

Defense

Robert Alford 70

Keanu Neal 70

Deion Jones 70

Desmond Trufant 67

Brian Poole 61

Ricardo Allen 55

Grady Jarrett 53

De’Vondre Campbell 52

Dontari Poe 51

Adrian Clayborn 50

Takk McKinley 48

Duke Riley 26

Brooks Reed 22

Derrick Shelby 20

Jack Crawford 19

Damontae Kazee 18

Joe Vellano 17

Blidi Wreh-Wilson 1

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You’ve got your high-usage starters, and then you’ve got your rotational guys. Especially with Vic Beasley out, Adrian Clayborn and Takkarist McKinley got a ton of run, and each of them nabbed a sack versus the Lions. The Falcons found roughly equal numbers of snaps for Reed, Shelby, Crawford and (surprisingly) Vellano, and continue to enjoy the advantage of having a lot of quality guys available to keep their starters fresh. It just didn’t lead to a whole hell of a lot of pressure on Matthew Stafford, unfortunately and the Falcons will need to see if Reed or Shelby can offer a little more next week.

Takk being on the field that much was this week’s most pleasant surprise. He looks special.

Special Teams

Kemal Ishmael 27

C.J. Goodwin 26

Jordan Tripp 21

Eric Saubert 21

Derrick Coleman 21

Justin Hardy 21

Damontae Kazee 19

Sharrod Neasman 19

Matt Bosher 15

Andre Roberts 14

Ben Garland 13

Robert Alford 12

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There hasn’t been much room for them on defense, but Kemal Ishmael and C.J. Goodwin continue to be two of the team’s most important special teamers. Eric Saubert has been able to carve out a much more significant role on teams than on offense, as well, while Damontae Kazee and Sharrod Neasman should be able to ensure gameday roles for themselves if they continue to play well on special teams. Tripp getting 21 snaps this week might suggest that he’ll continue to suit up ahead of Jermaine Grace, a better defender in a deep corps of linebackers who doesn’t have the special teams experience.