Falcons snap counts from an ugly loss to the Panthers

The Falcons were awful last night. Given the opportunity to make headway in the NFC South and get back to .500, Atlanta never even held a lead in this one, getting blown off the field even if the final score was just a 10 point margin. It was the most discouraging effort of the year, given the opponent and the divisional stakes.

We’ll have a long time to talk about what the Falcons can do to get right, given that they have 10 days until their next game against the Bears, but for now let’s just review some snap counts. Those can’t hurt us that badly.

Offense

Marcus Mariota: 63

Jake Matthews: 63

Colby Gossett: 63

Drew Dalman: 63

Chris Lindstrom: 63

Kaleb McGary: 63

Kyle Pitts: 56

Drake London: 55

Olamide Zaccheaus: 48

Tyler Allgeier: 30

Damiere Byrd: 30

Cordarrelle Paterson: 24

Parker Hesse: 22

MyCole Pruitt: 12

Avery Williams: 9

Caleb Huntley: 9

KhaDarel Hodge: 8

Keith Smith: 6

Bryan Edwards: 6

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This was a game where some made the most of very limited opportunities. Huntley turned nine snaps into five carries for 32 yards, outgaining Allgeier and Patterson and looking like the most potent runner on the field. Allgeier outsnapped Patterson, indicating once again that he has a varied role that will keep him on the field, but it was surprising not to see more Patterson and especially more Huntley given the ground game’s scuffles.

Hodge was another player who turned limited looks into something, with two grabs and a touchdown on just eight snaps. He’s had a couple of noteworthy miscues this year, but as the team’s fourth receiver and a core special teamer, Hodge has mostly been a positive addition to this team. Ditto Byrd, who played far more snaps but continues to look like Mariota’s most trusted option.

The notes aren’t all that positive otherwise. Gossett had a rough game, but I’m not sure the Falcons have any workable alternatives to starting him at left guard, so they’ll probably trot him back out there against the Bears and hope for better. The team’s inability to get the ball to Pitts, ostensibly their most dangerous non-Patterson weapon, is a major drag on the offense that kind of needs to be fixed if this passing game is going to rise above mediocrity. Given how late in the season is and that the only major lineup change likely to come is at quarterback, the truly unsatisfying “play better, coach better” mantra is all we have on offense.

Defense

Richie Grant: 66

Jaylinn Hawkins: 66

Darren Hall: 66

Rashad Fenton: 66

Rashaan Evans: 60

Mykal Walker: 59

Grady Jarrett: 54

Ta’Quon Graham: 51

Lorenzo Carter: 50

Arnold Ebiketie: 36

Abdullah Anderson: 35

Adetokunbo Ogundeji: 30

Isaiah Oliver: 19

Troy Andersen: 17

DeAngelo Malone: 16

Timothy Horne: 15

Jalen Dalton: 12

Dee Alford: 8

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For the second straight effort against Carolina, the Falcons had almost zero success stopping the Panthers ground game. The handful of plays they did were authored by Horne, Anderson, and Jarrett, with the linebackers mightily struggling most of the day.

Evans was coming off what I thought was a seriously underrated effort against the Chargers where he made plays both big and small, but his biggest impact on his one might have been colliding with another defender. Walker didn’t fare well either, with Andersen getting a little more work as a direct result, and it’s fair to wonder if we’ll see more of him against Chicago given that the track record against the run has been so poor of late.

The biggest playing time note, though, is that the Falcons essentially replaced Cornell Armstrong with Rashad Fenton. I tend to think Fenton will end up being an upgrade when all is said and done, but last night he struggled pretty mightily much of the night, so maybe that’s not a given. With 10 days to recover, Terrell may be back anyways, leaving the question of Fenton’s place on the depth chart a little bit of an open question.

The defense has had a very up-and-down year, but there’s no major changes coming aside from Terrell’s return, which would provide a major lift. Hopefully they can find their footing.

Specials teams

Avery Williams: 26

Mike Ford; 26

Nick Kwiatkoski: 25

DeAngelo Malone: 21

Jovante Moffatt: 21

Troy Andersen: 20

KhaDarel Hodge: 20

Keith Smith: 20

Richie Grant: 16

Parker Hesse: 15

Bradley Pinion: 11

MyCole Pruitt: 10

Isaiah Oliver: 9

Liam McCullough: 8

Cornell Armstrong: 8

Jalen Dalton: 7

Cordarrelle Patterson: 7

Abdullah Anderson: 6

Timothy Horne: 6

Adetokunbo Ogundeji: 6

Jaylinn Hawkins: 5

Ta’Quon Graham: 5

Kaleb McGary: 3

Jake Matthews: 3

Chris Lindstrom: 3

Colby Gossett: 3

Ryan Neuzil: 3

Younghoe Koo: 3

Germain Ifedi: 3

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The notes are sparse here, but on a night where weather was a factor, Koo whiffed on two extra points, Pinion had one very short punt, and the return game was on point as usual, with Patterson getting a rare and welcome chance to return kicks. Hopefully we’re not seeing miscues against Chicago.