Falcons snap counts for Dan Quinn’s final game against the Panthers

Let’s be honest: You’ve got bigger things on your mind than snap counts. If you’d still like to peruse this week for a few key takeaways and to compare to next week with Raheem Morris at the helm, we’ve prepared them for you below.

Offense

Matt Ryan: 65

Jake Matthews: 65

Alex Mack: 65

Chris Lindstrom: 65

Kaleb McGary: 65

Olamide Zaccheaus: 63

Hayden Hurst: 54

James Carpenter: 53

Calvin Ridley: 48

Russell Gage: 40

Todd Gurley: 36

Luke Stocker: 23

Brian Hill: 20

Christian Blake: 14

Matt Hennessy: 12

Keith Smith: 9

Ito Smith: 9

Brandon Powell: 5

Jaeden Graham: 3

Matt Gono: 1

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Let’s start with the day for a receiving corps, which was a doozy. Gage, Zaccheaus, and Hurst combined for 15 targets, 5 catches, and 37 yards on the day, an absolutely abysmal total for the trio. Ridley absolutely carried the day for Atlanta through the air with 8 catches on 10 targets for 136 yards, but he was a non-factor throughout much of the first half and the two targets he didn’t reel in were both drops. Zaccheaus disappeared after the first drive, Gage had a costly drop, and Ryan simply missed Hurst multiple times, and the end result was one of the most dismal days for the passing game in recent memory. Matt Ryan was shaky all day and deserves at least half the blame for the way things went, but it’s difficult to look at the snap totals for this receiving group and not be like “that’s it?”

The Falcons obviously sorely need Ryan to get right and Julio Jones to be back on the field, but Dirk Koetter’s going to have to figure out ways to scheme players open because aside from Ridley and poor, doomed Hurst, who Ryan missed badly in the end zone before forcing an ugly throw to him, because Zaccheaus wasn’t able to do so with the regularity he did against Green Bay and Gage has gone from being a hyper-reliable target to a non-factor with alarming quickness.

The Falcons continue to prize getting Hennessy some work, but with Carpenter playing as well as he has in years, those opportunities continue to be limited. Hennessy’s still in line to take over the center gig next year—the team’s financial realities dictate that—and with the season already lost I don’t mind the Falcons finding ways to get him the experience he needs. The rest of the line has, on balance, played quite well this season, and Lindstrom and McGary look like a very strong right side of the line for the next few years.

Gurley continues to be the lead back and easily the most productive player the Falcons are trotting out there on offense at the moment, with Hill mixing in effectively and Ito searching for a larger role and more production. With the passing game looking like a mess, expect Atlanta to lean more heavily on the ground game in the weeks to come.

Defense

Deion Jones: 65

A.J. Terrell: 64

Foye Oluokun: 63

Ricardo Allen: 63

Kendall Sheffield: 59

Keanu Neal: 58

Isaiah Oliver: 54

Grady Jarrett: 53

Charles Harris: 42

Tyeler Davison: 36

Dante Fowler Jr.: 34

Steven Means: 30

John Cominsky: 28

Jacob Tuioti-Mariner: 19

Allen Bailey: 16

Marlon Davidson: 12

Mykal Walker: 10

Takk McKinley: 5

Blidi Wreh-Wilson: 2

LaRoy Reynolds: 1

Tyler Hall: 1

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There is so much work to be done on this defense, unfortunately.

The Falcons managed zero sacks against Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday, allowing him to put up his best passer rating and adjusted yards per attempt of the season. For long stretches of the game, Bridgewater was unbothered in the pocket, and even the pressure the team generated did little to prevent him from throwing darts. The run defense also struggled for large portions of the game, and when that’s happening it’s hard to figure out what players like Davison are bringing to the table. The Falcons have barely eased in Marlon Davidson, who had a pass deflection at the line of scrimmage yesterday, and continue to have no real role to speak of for Allen Bailey for the second straight year. The defensive line in particular is just a bit of a mess outside of Jarrett, and that’s doubly true when Takk can’t play, given that he’s one of the few reliable pass rushing options available to Atlanta. Whoever takes over this team is going to need to figure out how to get more out of this group.

In the secondary, getting Terrell back and Sheffield healthy led to some better moments, but Bridgewater still had little trouble finding weak spots. His touchdown pass against Isaiah Oliver was yet another case of Oliver not being able to keep up with his assigned player, and it’s tough to conclude that he won’t be heading for a smaller role when Darqueze Dennard is back in action. There are simply too many missed tackles and missed opportunities in coverage happening in this defense, and the Falcons really need to figure out who they intend to start going forward because it’s going to impact 2020.

There’s just not much to say about where this defense is at. We’ll just hope it starts showing more signs of life in the weeks ahead.

Special Teams

Sharrod Neasman: 21

LaRoy Reynolds: 18

Jacob Tuioti-Mariner: 17

Tyler Hall: 16

Jaeden Graham: 14

Mykal Walker: 14

Luke Stocker: 13

Christian Blake: 13

John Cominsky: 11

Edmond Robinson: 11

Younghoe Koo: 9

Sterling Hofrichter: 7

Josh Harris: 7

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It’s note worthy that Younghoe Koo returned from injury and did a very nice job of erasing any concerns about the status of his leg, hitting every kick he was asked to make, including a 54 yarder that becomes his new career high. I’d like to not worry about at least one aspect of this team, and Koo erased doubts with that performance.

Also noteworthy is Tyler Hall. The Falcons appear to like his work there, as they called him up specifically to serve in that role, and he should have a bright future on teams even if it takes him a while to carve one out on defense. Expect to see him as a practice squad callup more than once the rest of the way.