It’s not about how the snaps were divvied up, it’s what happened with them.
Offense
Matt Ryan: 53
Jake Matthews: 53
Wes Schweitzer: 53
Alex Mack: 53
Zane Beadles: 53
Ryan Schraeder: 53
Mohamed Sanu: 44
Julio Jones: 41
Austin Hooper: 38
Calvin Ridley: 34
Tevin Coleman: 29
Ito Smith: 24
Logan Paulsen: 18
Justin Hardy: 11
Marvin Hall: 10
Ricky Ortiz: 8
Eric Saubert: 6
Russell Gage: 1
Ty Sambrailo: 1
The clues to this inept offensive performance are not necessarily found in the snap counts, though this team still makes some baffling choices. Ricky Ortiz and Logan Paulsen are in the game for their blocking prowess, but with 26 combined snaps, Atlanta’s offense was still woefully bad.
It starts with the offensive line, which has been unable to hold up well enough to give this offense a fighting chance. Matt Ryan is on pace to be sacked a career-high 48 times—more on that later today—and the ground game has ground to a halt. The Falcons will have a healthy Brandon Fusco back next year and are set at center and left tackle, but Wes Schweitzer, Zane Beadles, and Ryan Schraeder have not cut the mustard this season, and the Falcons must upgrade significantly.
Otherwise, the snap counts are mostly familiar and not all that illuminating. This offense just isn’t playing well right now.
Defense
Desmond Trufant: 81
Robert Alford: 80
Damontae Kazee: 80
De’Vondre Campbell: 70
Deion Jones: 64
Grady Jarrett: 59
Takk McKinley: 55
Foye Oluokun: 52
Brian Poole: 52
Jack Crawford: 49
Vic Beasley: 48
Sharrod Neasman: 47
Bruce Irvin: 36
Jordan Richards: 31
Terrell McClain: 31
Brooks Reed: 26
Deadrin Senat: 20
Duke Riley: 10
There were stretches of competence on this side of the ball, at least. The Falcons have discovered that Damontae Kazee and Foye Oluokun are starting-caliber players on this defense, and if nothing else good comes of this year, that’s something. Otherwise, they allowed too many big runs and got off the field not nearly enough, with the pass rush once again falling hopelessly short. The Falcons aren’t going to have a particularly difficult time making decisions along their defensive line if this keeps up, with only Grady Jarrett and Takkarist McKinley’s potential really worth banking on.
And there are few surprises here otherwise. The Falcons are trying to lean on their best defenders overall, but their best defenders haven’t been all that great, however well Jarrett is playing and however nice the return of Deion Jones is. I like Sharrod Neasman a great deal, but a team having to lean on him and Richards at strong safety is not a team likely to have a great track record. This team is going to clear out multiple players with 20-plus snaps heading into this offseason, and we’ll hope they can replace them with better options. Full stop.
Special Teams
Kemal Ishmael: 23
Duke Riley: 20
Eric Saubert: 19
Isaiah Oliver: 18
Russell Gage: 18
Justin Bethel: 17
Bruce Carter: 17
Logan Paulsen: 13
Ricky Ortiz: 13
Brian Poole: 11
Sharrod Neasman: 11
Marvin Hall: 11
Justin Hardy: 11
Matt Bosher: 11
Duke Riley’s solid special teams play has more or less ensured he’ll be the team’s fourth linebacker and a core player on teams in 2019. Ditto third tight end Eric Saubert and fifth or sixth wide receiver Russell Gage, who look terrific in this context. Unfortunately, most of the guys the Falcons are leaning on otherwise are free agents after the year, leaving the Falcons with some tough decisions as they look to keep a solid special teams unit together.
from The Falcoholic - All Posts https://ift.tt/2SrlqFN
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